Actor Mansi Taxak, who plays one of the three wives of the character Abrar, played by Bobby Doel in the film Animal, made conflicting statements while discussing the scene involving marital rape. During an interview, Mansi initially refuted any suggestion of assault in the scene but acknowledged that the 'twisted' character Abrar displayed 'animal instincts' during that particular moment, leading him to release his frustrations on his wives.
During an interview with Zoom Entertainment, Mansi was directly questioned about the wedding scene in Animal, where Abrar learns about his brother's death. In a fit of rage, he first reacts by killing the messenger and then violently assaults Mansi's character, who is the youngest of his three wives. Once he's finished, he signals for his two other wives to join them in the bedroom, where he proceeds to violate them as well.
But without flinching, Mansi clarifies, “It is shocking, of course. Nobody expects their wedding to end that way. When the wedding sequence starts, if you see the lights, the way the art was done, it was beautiful. You hear the music, that has gone so viral on Instagram. It was heading towards a beautiful end, and suddenly, you see something like this happening. It was to tell the audience that and animal is coming; if you thought Ranbir was this way, you can expect the villain to be (worse). It was an apt way to establish Bobby sir’s character and to show the audience what real animal we’re talking about. I would not wish that to happen at my wedding ever!”
She further adds, “It was not the intent to show that any sort of assault was happening. It was just that Bobby sir did not expect his brother’s death news to come on the wedding, which puts the character into a zone where he couldn’t think straight. And that’s what we’re talking about, right? Animal instincts are unpredictable instincts. So he goes into that zone, and to vent out his emotions, he comes to his wives. I don’t think it was intended to be any sort of assault. I didn’t feel it on the set, or in the script. That was not the case. It was just a relationship between two people that has panned out the way it did.”
Meanwhile, the makers of Animal have also released the licensed version of the Persian song Jamal Kudu, that plays during Bobby's celebratory introduction in the movie, when is just about to read his vows with Mansi's character.
ABOUT ANIMAL
The film explores the complex relationship between a wealthy father and his immature son, against the backdrop of vengeance and violence. The movie stars an ensemble cast featuring Ranbir Kapoor, Rashmika Mandanna, Anil Kapoor, Bobby Deol, Tripti Dimri, Charu Shankar, Saloni Batra, Anshul Chauhan, Siddhant Karnick, Shakti Kapoor, Suresh Oberoi and Prem Chopra.