Indian filmmaker Karan Johar has defended Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Animal as a ‘character film.’

Animal divided social media audience upon its release. However, the movie was the second biggest hit in Indian film cinema in 2023 with massive box office success grossing over Rs900 crore.

Karan Johar joined the Animal movie debate after months of calling the movie ‘arousing and engaging.’

Speaking at the Forbes India Leadership Awards 2024, Johar said that he sincerely adored the design, screenplay dialogue, and character development as a filmmaker.

“There’s been a lot of debate on Animal… Personally, truly honestly, I saw it as a character film based on a character who was deeply dysfunctional, inherently violent, who had many emotional issues and I loved the treatment” Karan Johar said at the event.

The 51-year-old filmmaker was impressed by Vanga’s film on story-telling and execution rather than the message.

He pointed out that it was his responsibility as the filmmaker to appreciate the movies even if those movies attract criticism.

“If he loves a film, he has to be open about it even if it runs the risk of being criticized,” Johar said.

Last year at the Mega Pan India Roundtable 2023, Karan Johar described Animal as a ‘game-changer.’

Animal’s audience has criticized the movie due to its portrayal of violence, misogynistic narrative and violence as Ranbir Kapoor’s character showed the absence of a father in his life and disregarded Rashmika Mandanna’s character who showed as a docile woman.