Karan Johar Praises Animal: Filmmaker Sandeep Reddy Vanga's Animal may have received polarising reactions and massive criticism for its underlying themes of violence, misogyny, and toxic masculinity, but the film emerged as 2023's biggest blockbuster.

Many in the industry, however, have praised the movie and joined the bandwagon. Karan Johar recently praised the Ranbir Kapoor starrer and called it 'the best film of the year.'

Karan Johar praises Animal

KJo, who was a part of the Mega Pan India Roundtable 2023 organised by Galatta Plus, was seated just beside Sandeep Reddy Vanga and went on to say that Animal success is a 'game-changer.'

Speaking highly of Animal, Johar stated, "People have come up to me after I spoke about how much I loved Animal, and said, 'You have made Rocky Aur Rani,' That's the vaccination for a film like Animal. It's the opposite extreme."

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He added, "I said that I cannot disagree with you more, because Animal to me is the best film of the year. It took me a while to reach to this statement and a lot of courage because when you are around people, you fear judgment. Like during the time of Kabir Singh, which I also loved... I was like I am going to say this and I am going to get dirty looks from certain people but I don't care anymore."

Karan Johar reveals he cried during Animal climax

At the roundtable conversation, he went on to explain what he liked about Animal. He said, "I loved 'Animal' for its front-footed, absolutely conviction-based narrative storytelling, breaking grammar, breaking myths, breaking everything that you think conforms to mainstream cinema. Suddenly you have an interval block where the hero is getting bashed up and everyone's singing a song... I am like, 'Where have you seen a sequence like this?' It's genius."

He continued, "The end, where the two men are going for each other and they play that song... I had tears in my eyes, but there was only blood. So I was like 'something is wrong with me or something is wrong with him, but something put together is very right about this film'. This is not an average thinking mind. This is a mind of someone who is so distinct, so individualistic that I was blown away."

"I saw the film twice, first to see as an audience member and second to study it. I think the success, and acceptance of 'Animal' is game-changing. The conviction is something that I want to have," he concluded.

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About Animal

Animal revolves around a troubled father-son relationship. It also stars Bobby, Anil Kapoor, Rashmika Mandanna, Shakti Kapoor, and Triptii Dimri in key roles. The film grossed over 500 cr in India, surpassing Sidharth Anand's Pathaan.