Ranbir Kapoor-starrer Animal has been in the news lately, as many believe the film glorifies toxic masculinity. Now, actor Karanvir Bohra’s character Viraj Dobriyal from the 2011 drama Saubhagyavati Bhava is being compared to Kapoor’s Ranvijay via several memes on social media. However, box-office numbers for the movie show that it’s being watched and appreciated widely. Bohra feels it is because the film, like his show, mirrors the real world.

“On research, our channel found that viewers like characters such as Viraj [or Ranvijay from Animal] as they are taken from real life,” he shares, adding, “We need to accept that life is not all roses and fairytales. Through movies and shows, we are just sharing stories of the real world and not propagating domestic violence. There is a difference between sharing stories and promoting agendas.” 

To those who feel that it is all about normalizing toxic behaviour, Bohra says, “People who are criticizing Animal are denying the reality. Moreover, when it comes to such stories, I don’t think there is anything wrong or right. When it comes to cinema and making art, one may hold a certain perception and choose to show a story according to that. Others might not agree with it, but that doesn’t make it wrong. It’s fictional but inspired by real life.” He asserts that the idea is not to influence people to behave like those characters. 

Quoting examples from his own show, the 41-year-old feels that such projects help spread awareness about issues such as domestic violence. “I used to have talks about these issues. We took on the responsibility of making people aware that they should not endure something like this. During those times, we got to know that many people experienced such things (abuse and violence), as they would tell us that they were going through something similar,” Bohra ends.