Laapataa Ladies beats Animal in viewership on streaming app

This will ruffle the feathers of a certain director. Kiran Rao's Laapataa Ladies has accumulated more views on Netflix than Sandeep Reddy Vanga's Animal. Rao's small-budget, rural-set dramedy debuted on the streaming app a month ago and has since then accumulated 13.8 million views. Vanga's film, on the other hand, debuted on the same platform in January and accumulated at least 13.6 million views in the first three weeks before dropping out of the top 10 in the fourth week. 

Laapataa Ladies has not only managed to retain spots in the top 10 for a week longer than Animal, it hasn’t dropped below the top 5.

The feud between Sandeep Reddy Vanga and Kiran Rao

Many would recall how the Animal director had made unsavoury comments toward Rao after she had commented on the mysogyny in his film. 

Kiran Rao addressed made the comments in an interview in November, to which Vanga responded by highlighting similar issues in her ex-husband Aamir Khan’s film Dil. Addressing her as ‘that woman’, Reddy had commented on Aamir's previous work. 

Responding to his comments, Kiran Rao told The Quint, “I haven’t commented on Mr Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s films because I have not seen them. I have often spoken on misogyny and the representation of women on screen, and I have talked about it on various platforms and at various times. But I have never taken the name of any film because it is not really about the specific films, it is about the issues. I will continue to speak on these issues. So, why Mr Vanga Reddy has assumed that I am talking about his film, you will have to ask him.”

Also read: Animal movie review: Ranbir Kapoor's film is 'Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham on acid'

While speaking to WION, Rao had admitted that releasing a film like Laapataa Ladies in theatres at a time when Animal was doing well at the box office was a risk but she had credited the film's story for being fresh which made the project viable commercially. 

"It is a risk when you don't have big stars, VFX, action, choreographed numbers- here we are in a village with unknown faces telling a story that people are not accustomed to seeing. I do think it is a risk if you think your story is done to death. I feel when you have a fresh story and when you design a project to be viable and produce it smartly then it is not as much a risk. " 

Box office collection of Animal and Laapataa Ladies

Starring Ranbir Kapoor, Rashmika Mandanna, and Bobby Deol, Animal was released in theatres in December and broke box office records and earned Rs 900 crore (Rs 9 billion) globally. Laapataa Ladies, on the other hand, premiered at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival before being released theatrically in March and made a little over Rs 20 crore (Rs 200 million) worldwide. But the story seemed to be different when it came to streaming.

Also read: Laapataa Ladies review: Kiran Rao's film feels like a giant warm hug