Sanjay Gupta DEFENDS Animal, Slams Javed Akhtar's Views On Film: 'We Don’t Have The Same Patience...'

Sanjay Gupta, director of movies like Kaante, Jazbaa, and Kaabil, recently backed Sandeep Reddy Vanga against criticism for his controversial film, Animal. Sanjay praised Sandeep’s dedication, saying that the film’s ability to make people uncomfortable is what made it successful. He also questioned the fairness of Javed Akhtar’s criticism, suggesting that the veteran screenwriter may have a somewhat idealistic view of the world.

In a recent chat on Siddharth Kannan’s YouTube channel, Sanjay Gupta praised Animal’s director, saying he has stirred discomfort and highlighted society’s hypocrisy on sex education. “He has made a lot of people very uncomfortable. We are the land of the Kamasutra and Khajuraho and we will don’t talk about sex education. We are inherently hypocritical race. Recently, I had gone for the trial of a film and there I met Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane, and a few others. Animal is all anyone can talk about right now. Now life is pre and post Animal,” he said.

The director noted similarities between sequences in Animal and his film Zinda. The 2006 movie, featuring Sanjay Dutt and John Abraham, was an unofficial adaptation of Oldboy. “There are sequences in Animal which we have shot in Zinda, almost 20 years ago in 2004. The exact same sequences, with the hammer and 30 people fighting,” he said.

When asked about Javed Akhtar’s views on Animal, Sanjay Gupta acknowledged Javed might be right but said Javed sees the world with “rose-tinted glasses.” Sanjay argued that society has changed, and blaming the film for societal issues or vice versa is not fair. Javed Akhtar had called Animal “dangerous” due to scenes depicting questionable behaviour at the 9th Ajanta-Ellora International Film Festival. “He is not accepting that the society has already changed. We are not the same people we were 10 years ago. We don’t have the same compassion. We don’t have the same patience. Look at how we are being manipulated, look at how the media is being manipulated. We will not go back to normal so I don’t think it is right to blame the film for the society and vice versa,” Sanjay said.