Animal: Ram Gopal Varma Criticises 'Lick My Shoe' Scene, Says 'Ranbir Kapoor Was Out of Character'

Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Animal, starring Ranbir Kapoor, Rashmika Mandanna, Anil Kapoor and Bobby Deol, released this Friday, garnering varied reactions from both critics and audiences. Known for his divisive filmmaking, director Ram Gopal Varma also shared his thoughts on the movie, mostly praising it except one scene where he felt Ranbir was ‘out of character’.

The filmmaker wrote that Adrian Lyne, the filmmaker behind Fatal Attraction and Lolita, once said that films should provoke vehement arguments about their core messages. Varma noted that Sandeep successfully achieved this with Animal. Elaborating, he wrote, “He explains, “There will be massive fights over the content and the character of Ranbir in Animal long after its box office run is over and I truly believe it can also trigger a cultural overhaul due to the way Sandeep has ripped off the clothes of moral hypocrisy with his bare naked honesty. That is because Animal is not merely a film..it is a social statement.”

He also shared his perspective on Ranbir Kapoor’s nude scene in the film, describing it as a ‘rare achievement.’ He said, “An actor’s biggest worry is that he won’t be able to see himself in a scene, and his biggest fear is how it will come across to the audience. What if the audience don’t like it and laugh at it? The kind of challenges Sandeep threw at Ranbir, including the naked scene when he walks in front of his family and staff. The conviction with which Ranbir did that scene, he absolutely believed in the character. When he is in the frame, it looks like he is living the character. That’s a very rare achievement.”

The sole instance RGV expresses doubt about Animal is when Ranbir’s character requests Triptii Dimri’s character to lick his feet. He wrote, “I think that scene was inconsistent because only in that scene I felt Ranbir was out of character. Also, the character of Triptii evokes so much empathy.” RGV also clarified that Triptii’s character felt authentic to him. He added, “So to be so rude and crude to her, I felt Ranbir’s character fell down below her in that scene, which never happened in the rest of the film.”