Mrunal Thakur defends Ranbir Kapoor starring in Animal: ‘Don’t forget he played Barfi. Can't we celebrate diversity'

In Animal, Ranbir kapoor was seen as Ranvijay Singh Balbir. The film was criticised for glorifying toxic masculinity and misogyny.

Mrunal Thakur has defended Ranbir Kapoor, who portrayed an aggressive and ruthless character in the 2023 film Animal, helmed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga. Speaking with the media at the International Indian Film Academy Awards (IIFA) Utsavam 2024 in Abu Dhabi, Mrunal Thakur reminded everyone that the same Ranbir also played the role of Barfi in the 2012 film. (Also Read | Triptii Dimri reacts to Animal criticism, calls her character Zoya both ‘brave and innocent at the same time’)

Mrunal Thakur spoke about Ranbir Kapoor and Animal.

What Mrunal said about Ranbir's character in Animal

Mrunal said, “Let's not forget that Ranbir is also the actor who played Barfi. Why can't we celebrate the diversity in his films and the fact that he can play both Barfi and Animal so well.”

About Barfi

Barfi is a romantic comedy film written and directed by Anurag Basu. The film stars Ranbir, Priyanka Chopra and Ileana D'Cruz, Saurabh Shukla, Ashish Vidyarthi, Jisshu Sengupta, Roopa Ganguly and Haradhan Bandopadhyay.

More about Animal

Animal is an action drama film starring Ranbir as Ranvijay Singh Balbir. It also featured Anil Kapoor, Bobby Deol, Rashmika Mandanna and Triptii Dimri. The film was criticised for its graphic violence, glorifying toxic masculinity and misogyny. It did well commercially, both domestically and internationally, grossing ₹917 crore.

What Mrunal earlier said about Animal

Earlier this year, speaking with Bollywood Life, Mrunal addressed the criticism Animal faced then. She had said, "I think we should totally watch the movie for the character they are. We also forget that films are made for entertainment. That's why it's called Animal, it's not called Devata. I don't know, it's pure logic. It's a debatable question, and a lot of people will want to have my opinion. Having said that I'm really proud to be a part of Indian cinema."

Mrunal new projects

Fans will see Mrunal with Ajay Devgn in the sequel of the action comedy Son of Sardaar. It is helmed by Vijay Kumar Arora. She also has David Dhawan's comedy film with Varun Dhawan. Mrunal is also a part of Pooja Meri Jaan starring Huma Qureshi.

About Ranbir's films

Ranbir starred last in Animal alongside Triptii Dimri and Rashmika Mandanna. The actor also has the sequel of Animal, titled Animal Park. Apart from this, he has Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Love And War with Alia Bhatt and Vicky Kaushal.