Rajkummar Rao says he has ‘some issues’ with Ranbir Kapoor’s Animal; reacts to glorification of Shah Rukh Khan’s Devdas

Praising Ranbir Kapoor in Animal, Rajkummar Rao said that he “loved him in it and his performance in the film was mind-blowing”.

Actor Rajkummar Rao has reacted to a question about people glorifying negative characters in films. On Raj Shamani’s podcast, the actor was asked about people relating to Shah Rukh Khan’s Devdas. Rajkummar also talked about Ranbir Kapoor’s Animal and that he loved the film.

Rajkummar says people shouldn’t try to become Devdas
Speaking about Devdas, the actor said, “If you want to become Devdas after watching it, the problem is in you. You have been shown a story that there might be some guy like Devdas. He (Director) isn’t asking anyone to become like him, and it’s based on a book… It’s a character story. He dies in the end. He is telling you if you do this, you gonna die sooner. He is not telling you that he is facing all these, still he is living well and has a lot of money.”

Rajkummar says he loved Ranbir Kapoor, Animal
Talking about Animal, Rajkummar said, “I loved Animal, the experience of watching Animal. I enjoyed it. Did I have some issues with the film? Maybe. Some scenes here and there, yes. But did I not enjoy the film? Of course not, I enjoyed the film, I enjoyed the experience of watching the film. I loved Ranbir Kapoor in it and his performance in the film was mind-blowing. Rajkummar shared that a film critic said that the film was titled Animal and not Adarsh Purush, as the director wanted to show the story of an “animal”.

About Animal and Devdas
Animal (2023), an action drama film, is directed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga. The film stars Ranbir Kapoor, Anil Kapoor, Bobby Deol, Rashmika Mandanna and Triptii Dimri. It faced criticism glorifying toxic masculinity and misogyny. The film grossed ₹917 crore worldwide.

Devdas (2002) is a period romantic drama film directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali. It stars Shah Rukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai, Madhuri Dixit, Jackie Shroff, Kirron Kher, Smita Jaykar, and Vijayendra Ghatge. Based on the 1917 novel of the same name by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, the film narrates the story of Devdas Mukherjee (Shah Rukh).

Rajkummar’s recent film
Rajkummar was recently seen in the hit film Stree 2, sequel to Stree, alongside Shraddha Kapoor. The film, directed by Amar Kaushik, released in theatres on August 15. Akshay Kumar and Varun Dhawan have special cameos in the film. Stree released in 2018 and was declared a hit.