Animal is written and directed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga who is known for his previous blockbuster Kabir Singh. Sandeep, in an interview, said that he will show the critics, what a violent film is. This came when Kabir Singh was reviewed by certain section of society as a misogynistic film. Vanga didn’t like the criticism and went on to defend his film. As was his right to defend, it is our right to comment and analyze on what he has done with Animal.
In Kabir Singh, although Shahid Kapoor’s character was a violent one, it was towards both genders. He thrashed his best friend during the entire film but towards the end he suffered. He suffered a lot and only then his girlfriend accepted him. There was a redemption in the end. There was a validation that this type of behavior is not right in any relationship and one has to change himself to grow. This also reinforced strength in Kiara Advani’s character Preeti.
Vanga had different plans for Animal. This time there is no redemption and there is no acceptance of right and wrong. Ranvijay Played by Ranbir Kapoor was promised to be a character who is traumatized by his Father Balbir played by Anil Kapoor. But in the movie it felt quite the opposite. Poor Balbir was scared shit of Ranvijay in the entire movie. Not letting him go to the Michael Jackson concert was not enough motivation for a character to become so violent and cringe. At some point in the film it feels as if the director made this film just to annoy the critics. Vanga defined the alpha male, and then tried to justify the alpha behavior through the female lens. Ranvijay is unhinged and almost random. From walking naked outside his own mansion to committing infidelity and using his father’s love as an excuse, Vanga made sure that his character has no rooted morality. More than the character it feel’s like it was the director’s hidden fascination playing on screen.
Geetanjli, Ranvijay’s wife played by Rashmika is also a character that Vanga feels a woman should be. There are characters like Geetanjli in real life as vanga displayed but those characters have a different upbringing. As seen from Geetanjali’s family the character arc of Geetanjli felt all over the place. An educated girl with educated parents will never tolerate this behavior from her husband. At one point in the film she justifies his behavior in front of her own mother saying that he took care of her while she was pregnant. Vanga almost made everyone in the theatre believe that it was a valid reasoning. It validated every man who has a questionable behavior. Its okay if he helps her wife by taking good care of her.
The movie lost itself after the initial one hour. The second half was just unnecessary action with null motivation, which was choregraphed well to vanga’s credit. There was no police, no obstruction, and no father son bond which we were promised in the trailer of the film. The character of Bobby deol, Abrar, was dead way too early. His character was set up nicely although showing him as a Muslim just to have three wives was a childish stretch and Abrar raping his wife on the wedding day is not the kind of cinema our country should witness as of now. We are living in a time where heinous crimes takes place daily and showing it on screen in such a way should be avoided. The call is for the artist to make and for us to decide for ourselves about what can be classified as Art.
Ranbir Kapoor aced his part. From his moonwalk to his unhinged expressions, he owned the part. Anil Kapoor as his father did a great job but the writing failed him and the screen time wasn’t enough for him to show his full potential. Rashmika Mandana, Bobby Deol, and Tripti Dimri did well with what they were given. Sandeep Reddy Vanga has potential as seen from certain scenes but due to a lack of creative storytelling, he couldn’t do justice to this film.
