New Delhi

Sandeep Reddy Vanga, who directed the smash hit Animal, has opened up about a controversial scene from the film which had the lead actor Ranbir Kapoor commenting on the female lead, Rashmika Mandanna's pelvis. Vanga has been criticised for the particular scene and has been called a misogynist. 

Speaking to Galatta Plus recently, Vanga dismissed the criticism that has come his way for the scene and the film in general and defended the controversial line. Vanga defended the moment where Kapoor's character compliments Mandanna for having a 'big pelvis'. 

The director explained why Ranbir’s character couldn’t express his emotions directly to Rashmika Mandanna in the scene. “He’s trying a different route to explain to her because it’s her engagement day and they were not in touch. Coming with that force and saying ‘Listen Gitanjali I really love your pelvis.’ He is trying to explain a theory which is related to the character, the title also, for the audience when they are watching the film it doesn’t seem like what theory he is talking about.”

'Big pelvis was a compliment'

Defending the scene, the director said, "I thought of shooting (that) he would just be playing with the petals of the flowers and he’d just put his hand on her feet. I wanted to shoot that but I thought I would not show it. I thought on the shoot day, ‘Let’s not do that and again give a shock,” revealed Vanga. “I felt like she is walking away, he knew that if he let her go without saying one more line, he knew that she was gone. So how should I say that I am seeing my future with you? I want to marry you. I thought in these situations boys behave very differently sometimes. Your intention is something else but you end up saying something else. So, he didn’t know what to say. This was the brief given to Ranbir also. Suddenly he doesn’t know what to say and he says Gitanjali got a big pelvis. He is giving a reason that I’m seeing a future with you that we’ll get married and have babies. I thought that was a compliment. I never thought…how you found it ugly." 

What was the scene in Animal that stirred a controversy?

The scene is at the beginning of Animal and has Ranvijay (Kapoor) telling Gitanjali (Mandanna), "You have a big pelvis," as Gitanjali is walking away. She seems irritated and asks in response, "Are you calling me fat?” Ranvijay insists it’s a compliment and adds that it means she has ‘childbearing hips.’

About Animal

Animal is a story about a toxic father-son relationship, played by Anil Kapoor (Balbir Singh) and Ranbir Kapoor (Ranvijay). Rashmika plays his girlfriend and then wife, Gitanjali. The film also features Bobby Deol, Triptii Dimri, Suresh Oberoi, Shakti Kapoor and Prem Chopra. 

The film has earned over Rs 7 billion at the global box office and continues to run in theatres after its December 1 release. 

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