One of the highest grossing films of 2023, Animal, has finally released on OTT for viewers to steam online, and along with that, it has also brought back the debate that it had sparked after its theatrical release — that it is laced with sexism and glorified misogyny, along with other vices.

Animal was dropped by the makers on Netflix on January 26, post which, several people who had watched the film in theatres, as well as those who watched it online, slammed the film and the makers, and demanded that it be taken down from the OTT platform.

A user tweeted, “I’m an Indian Hindu woman disturbed by the movie Animal which shows an Indian man having affairs outside marriage. Cultural heritage what makes India & this movie disturbs the “one man one wife” concept of this country. Plz take action,” and within no time, it went viral on the microblogging platform X (formerly, Twitter).

People also compared it to the removal of Nayanthara’s film Annapoorani from the platform, after it was accused of hurting religious sentiments.

“Remove annapoorani @NetflixIndia but promotes Misogyny and hatred. And you ma’am @NayantharaU have apologized to these vadakans. Shame on Netflix,” another user tweeted.

“@netflix please remove Hindi movie ANIMAL from Netflix, it reflects gore violence and abuse against women, this isn’t called entertainment,” another wrote.

Animal stars Ranbir Kapoor in the lead, along with Rashmika Mandanna, Anil Kapoor and Triptii Dimri in key roles. The film saw Bobby Deol playing the antagonist Abrar, and he broke the internet despite his limited screentime.

Directed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga, Animal was criticised and bashed for the storyline and the protagonist. However, the makers stuck by their statement that the film was not made with the intention to influence reality and that it did not endorse toxic masculinity.