Sharmila Tagore recently gave her view on the polarising Sandeep Reddy Vanga film, Animal which released last year. The veteran actor called the film, ‘violent and misogynistic’ and said that it is important to engage with films that become popular among masses.

In a conversation with Kapil Sibal on his YouTube channel, Dil Se Kapil Sibal, Sharmila brought up Animal. After this, Kapil interjected, calling the film, ‘terrible’ and ‘full of violence’. To this, Sharmila replied, “Beyond violence, there was misogyny. But there were a lot of women in the audience who said I want somebody to love me like that. Any film that runs a lot, you cannot rubbish it. You have to engage with it, try and understand what exactly is happening here.”

Kapil brought Kiran Rao’s Laapataa Ladies into the conversation, saying that it broke Animal‘s OTT record. To this, Sharmila said, “It did well only on OTT not as much in theatres. It did well even theatrically as it was within the budget. Whereas Animal spent a lot of money and made a huge amount of money also and other films like that.”

She added, “There is that stark difference (in budgets) and it will continue. I don’t see it in the near future that it is going to change. So, the smaller films will also get their money back but not in the quantity that say a Ranbir Kapoor or a Ranveer Singh will bring.”

Animal released in December last year and did really well at the box-office, while facing harsh criticisms for its portrayal of women and excessive violence. It stars Ranbir Kapoor, Rashmika Mandanna, Bobby Deol, Anil Kapoor, Shakti Kapoor and Suresh Oberoi in pivotal roles.

(This story originally appeared on Cinema Express)