Speaking to Jist, Bhumi Pednekar defended ‘Animal.’ She said that the filmmaker did not try to justify Ranbir’s character or his actions. She said, “When I look at ‘Animal’, I look at a character who is the avatar of max toxic masculinity. I am addressing that; I don’t want my son to become that. I don’t think even the filmmaker is justifying his action anywhere in the film. He is an anti-social element of the society.”

The ‘Thank You For Coming’ actor said that directors have a right to self-expression. She said that not just the filmmakers, but the audience also has a part to play in how they perceive the character. She added, “My genre as an audience is not hyper-masculine films, I get bored while watching them. My genre is rom-com and romance, I enjoy this genre. I don’t understand action films. I do feel every filmmaker has the right of self-expression but how the audience perceives that self-expression is where it becomes tricky. It is a filmmaker’s prerogative, but as an audience, it is on us also to see where we are leading with our society.”

She continued, “As a filmmaker, you need to have freedom of expression, but as an audience, we need to understand…like while watching ‘12th Fail’, you know you have to be like that person, take inspiration from him similarly you don’t have to take inspiration from that character (Animal’s Ranvijay).”

After collecting over Rs 800 crore at the global box office, ‘Animal’ is now streaming on Netflix. Pednekar was last seen in ‘Bhakshak’ which was based on the Muzzafarpur shelter home case.