Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s latest venture ‘Animal’ has been a hot topic of discussion, ever since its release. The Ranbir Kapoor-starrer, criticized for its misogynistic content, has now captured the attention of actress-politician Khushbu Sundar. The actress, who recently spoke at the Witt: Female Protagonist – The New Hero summit by TV9, questioned the success of films like ‘Animal.’ She elaborated that in a day and age where women empowerment is being talked about, films like ‘Animal’ are trying to “belittle women.”

She started off the conversation by clarifying that she herself has not watched the highly-controversial film, because “that’s not my kind of a film.” “But as a member of the National Commission for Women, I have seen a lot of cases of harassment, abuse, marital rape and even triple talak, despite it being illegal,” she said, adding, “If a misogynistic film like ‘Animal’ continues to bring in moolah, becomes one of the biggest box office grossing films, we need to think of the mindset of the people who make it a success.”

The ‘Shanti Kranti’ actress, however, doesn’t surprisingly blame the director of the film, Sandeep Reddy Vanga, for making the film. Instead, she placed responsibility on the individuals who chose to watch it. “We had a major issue with ‘Kabir Singh’ and ‘Arjun Reddy.’ But I don’t blame the director because I think for him, it’s success which will count,” she said, adding, “But I am talking about if there is something which is out there on a public forum where we talk about gender equality, we talk about equal respect to women, talking about her dignity, talking about how she should be projected and how she should be respected. And yet, you come across a film like ‘Animal’ and people throng to go and watch these kinds of films. And they’re all youngsters. They’re educated youngsters. ‘Oh, we love the film.’ And I’m like, ‘Guys, what’s going on in your mind?’”

The actress also stated that she did not want her daughters to go and watch the film. “They came back and said, ‘Amma, please don’t watch the film.’ Where are we heading when such films have a repeat audience?” she threw in a question for audiences to ponder about.

As for ‘Animal,’ it has grossed more than Rs 900 crores at box office collections worldwide. It’s available to stream on Netflix.