Ranbir Kapoor’s ANIMAL sets the box-office on fire

By

Sharada Iyer

Defying all expectations of the makers, the cast, the critics, and the film industry in general, director Sandeep Vanga Reddy’s latest offering ANIMAL starring Ranbir Kapoor has emerged to be one of the biggest hits of 2023 beating even Shah Rukh Khan’s Jawan in terms of first-day collections. The sixth day collection worldwide has surpassed rupees 500 crores declaring it a massive success at the box-office.

To begin with there were some points against its favour. For the violence and the sensitive narrative, the film was saddled with an ‘Adults only’ certificate. Also, it was not a solo release and had as its contender Meghna Gulzar’s Sam Bahadur-a biopic on India’s most decorated war veteran. Further, the release date was just an ordinary Friday and not any holiday or festival weekend. Despite all these aspects the audience welcomed the film whole-heartedly with so much enthusiasm and thrill that now the collections seem unstoppable.

The major factor for this has been Ranbir Kapoor’s stupendous performance. He aces the character of the mentally troubled youngster with a father-fixation so brilliantly that the audience gets fully invested in the character’s journey making it an engrossing experience. The audacity of the actor to venture into portraying such a character which he knew would spark dislike and controversy, speaks volumes of his guts and willingness to explore newer characters and not stick to any image.

He gets to display a range of emotions and his histrionics keep us glued to the screen. He is mind-blowing in the action scenes as well and after watching the film it would not be wrong to say that only Ranbir Kapoor could have done justice to this role. Neither any of the current lot of actors nor any from the Khan gang would have looked so convincing. The fact that the super long running time of 3 hours and 23 minutes did not deter the viewers is yet another feather in both the actor and the director’s cap and we never feel the film to be this long.

Indeed, a new genre of raw violence has been introduced by the director to Hindi cinema viewers-something very dark, very novel, and hitherto unexplored narrative and this aspect seems to have appealed to the public. The director who had created quite a stir with his earlier outing Kabir Singh in 2019, once again unleashes a psychotic character in the main role who has a toxic side to him and has grown up with several unresolved issues since childhood.

The film has been in the news for the violence, the misogyny, the projection of an alpha male and subjugation of women characters, etc., and not surprisingly some section of the audience seems to have got offended. From the beginning, it was clear that the story would be a dark and violent one and the trailer was a clear indication of things to come and yet if people ventured out with rosy eyes to watch a run-of-the-mill film, they were bound to be offended. Here the character of Ranbir Kapoor is not that of a hero. He is just the main protagonist with a warped mind and whose obsessive love for his dad makes him resort to violence which he feels is not only justified but the only way to get to the solution of a problem.

Ranbir Kapoor adores and worships his father from childhood but sadly the father (Anil Kapoor) has no time for his kids. At times he is even irritated by his son’s obsession. Ranbir has two sisters as well but they are not affected the way Ranbir is and unfortunately, he grows up to be a psychotic character who is ready to resort to anything to gain brownie points from his dad. When he comes to know that Anil Kapoor had been attacked and two bullets had found their way into his father’s body, his mind goes out of control and his anger knows only the path of violence and killing. Now we do not have to like his character or agree with his perspective to appreciate his brilliant performance.

There is Rashmika Mandana, the popular South actress playing his wife. Her character starts off as a soft-spoken, gentle person always by her husband’s side supporting him till she realizes that he cannot look beyond his father and can never change.  She has been given a role which allows her to speak her mind and for a change it is she who gets to slap him and not the other way round.

There is Tripti Dimri, the brilliant actress of Bullbul and Qala, who has a small role but leaves her mark. Both the actresses share a good on-screen chemistry with Ranbir. Anil Kapoor as the father is very good and the confrontation scenes between him and Ranbir are engrossing.

But the actor who has caught everyone by surprise is Bobby Deol and though he comes right at the end and has very little screen time, he shines in the role of a mute antagonist who has no qualms killing his enemies. His entry scene showing him dancing at his own wedding has become a rage on social media. This could be a career-defining role for him and from now on, it would be great to see him in negative roles.

Throughout this year, action scenes have dominated our cinema but somehow when it comes down to the very last fight scene, despite having the most advanced weapons at their disposal only our good-old typical Bollywood ‘dishoom-dishoom’ fight with bare hands seem to work for our heroes and villains. Here the face-off between Ranbir and Bobby forms a major highlight and since both are killers, we really do not mind who kills whom. Background score is good and songs fit the narrative.

The script has its flaws and some of the supporting cast like the sisters and the mother do not really have much to do and their performance is also nothing to write about. Bobby Deol should have been given more role and his back story could have been established in a better way. The post-credit scenes give an indication of a sequel titled ANIMAL PARK which promises to be darker and meaner.

It is said that cinema reflects society. Our society has always been patriarchal and women are subjugated at several levels. At the end of the day, how each person views or is influenced by such fictional characters can never be gauged…