Characters like Ranbir Kapoor in Animal, Shahid Kapoor's Kabir Singh wouldn't have worked 10-12 years ago: Kunal Kapoor

Kunal Kapoor gave the example of Ranbir Kapoor and Shahid Kapoor's films Animal and Kabir Singh, respectively, to illustrate how ‘heroes’ have changed in films.

One of 2023's biggest blockbusters, Ranbir Kapoor's Animal, did set the cash registers ringing but was slammed by a section of critics and audience for making heroes out of misogynistic, violent men. Now, in an interview with ETimes, actor Kunal Kapoor has weighed in on the film and said that 'today the audience accepts all kinds of heroes', unlike some years ago.

Ranbir Kapoor was seen as Ranvijay Singh aka Vijay in Animal, while Shahid Kapoor played the lead role in Kabir Singh. Both films were directed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga.

On 'heroes' of films like Kabir Singh and Animal

Kunal said, “Today, the audience accepts all kinds of heroes. You have characters like Shahid Kapoor in Kabir Singh and Ranbir Kapoor in Animal. These characters would not have worked maybe 10-12 years ago because people expected heroes to be a certain way. The more we stretch that mould, the better it is for everybody."

'The hero was expected to be of a certain kind'

The actor, who has worked in films such as Rang De Basanti (2006), Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana (2012) and Gold (2018), opened up about how that syntax and storytelling in films have changed over the years as he reflected on his career.

Kunal said, “When I started out, there were certain kinds of movies that would be made, and the hero was expected to be of a certain kind. You had to fit into a mould, which I didn’t. There were certain expectations about the kind of films that you had to do. And I didn’t enjoy those films. Fortunately, what’s happened is that the mould has changed now and different kinds of characters are being written, and different stories are being made. That’s the kind of space I enjoy.”

More about Animal and Kabir Singh

Besides Ranbir, Sandeep Reddy Vanga's Animal also stars Anil Kapoor, Rashmika Mandanna, Bobby Deol and Triptii Dimri in pivotal roles. Animal boasts of extreme violence and was slammed by many for glorifying toxic masculinity.

It revolves around a troubled father-son relationship between Anil's Balbir Singh and Ranbir's Ranvijay Singh, aka Vijay. The film stars Rashmika opposite Ranbir, and Bobby is the prime antagonist.

Kabir Singh, also directed by Sandeep, was one of the biggest grossers of 2019; the Shahid Kapoor-starrer received flak for its misogynistic gaze and normalising violence in a romantic relationship. It was the Hindi remake of Sandeep's Telugu film Arjun Reddy.