Review of the film Animal
The main cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Rashmika Mandanna, Anil Kapoor and Bobby Deol.
Review:
While I had initially wanted to see Sam Bahadur, a family decision (with a touch of confusion) led me to watch Animal instead.
First thing first: while the plot is good and the initial intention may have been noble, the film has been slaughtered by the editing team.
The story revolves around a violent individual, played by Ranbir Kapoor, obsessed with gaining his billionaire father’s love and attention. The film employs flashbacks to build context, but this approach proves largely unsuccessful. For example, I completely missed the relevance of the first scene where an older-looking Ranbir tells an anecdote to other older -looking people around him, and everyone supposedly laughs (strangely, even the audience).
Animal attempts to emulate the narrative arcs of The Godfather and Oppenheimer, incorporating both family-driven violence and non-linear storytelling. However, the execution becomes convoluted and underwhelming.
The protagonist’s childhood experiences are rushed through, intended to explain his violent tendencies. He operates on instinct, resorting to his own interpretation of the law of the jungle. He claims to love his wife, but his affection appears primarily based on her ability to provide for him and bear children. He justifies his extramarital affair while simultaneously threatening his wife with severe consequences for any similar actions on her part. The film is full of such misogynistic double standards that can put you off.
Ranbir Kapoor’s character and his family inhabit a bizarrely dystopian world where he can casually enter a classroom with an automatic weapon and threaten students (the audience clapped, by the way). His violent behavior goes unpunished, and the law seems non-existent within their realm. Their business ventures appear more akin to a criminal syndicate, with armed thugs carrying out killings without repercussions. No government exists. No society exists. No police exist. In any country. Like in The Game of Thrones, people can be decapitated, and their eyes can be gorged out without much thought or prevarication. Ranbir’s character gets shot, his organs begin to fail, he gets a heart transplant, he rebuilds his abs, and his health takes a 180° turn in a span of just a few months. As they say, when you’re watching a Bollywood movie, try to be logical at your own cost.
The plot thickens with an assassination attempt on Ranbir’s father. Fueled by rage and concern, he assembles a motley crew of burly Sikh relatives and friends who embark on a rampage accompanied by Punjabi music valorizing violence. He discovers his brother-in-law’s involvement in the attack, and the subsequent killing scene effectively conveys the tragic abnormality of Ranbir’s character. I think the killing of the brother-in-law is the strongest scene in the movie. Shot well.
However, the twist reveals a hidden cousin seeking revenge for his father’s death. The film then descends into a cornucopia of senseless violence, also featuring a comic book-esque supergun.
They also try to capture the zeitgeist of our times by making the Ranbir Kapoor’s character clarify the difference between Hitler’s hooked cross and Swastika (heated debates on social media), and one of the characters uttering “atmanirbhar Bharat”, catering to the Right-wing.
While Ranbir delivers a convincing performance, he appears noticeably older and haggard. His head also inexplicably seems larger than those of other characters, which, despite his unkempt hair meant to symbolize his madness, feels oddly distracting. In my opinion, Ranbir’s best performance remains Rocket Singh.
Rashmika Mandana provides the film’s sole refreshing presence. Despite her smaller stature compared to other characters, she commands strong screen presence with her acting and emotional expression. Strangely, and I don’t know how the scriptwriter managed that, her character even has some emotional resonance. She does justice to her role despite the overall nature of the film.
The film’s remaining characters lack depth and engage in shallow conversations. Attempts to add some sense of gravity through characters like Prem Chopra as a Sikh patriarch and Suresh Oberai as Ranbir’s grandfather feel like patchwork rather than substantive contributions to the narrative.
Anil Kapoor’s role could have been done by anyone — he doesn’t make any particular contribution.
Bobby Deol, who appears briefly, looks creepy as usual.
The underlying theme of the delicate father-son relationship holds potential, but its exploration remains unsuccessful. While the film contains moments of humor, Ranbir’s accent and mannerisms often render them vulgar rather than funny.
The editing process has caused significant damage, resulting in scenes that appear haphazardly placed and devoid of coherence. Ultimately, the film becomes a confusing hodgepodge of disjointed scenes.
Whether you should watch Animal depends on your preferences. The audience I watched with certainly had their moments of enjoyment, even clapping and cheering at certain points. However, I would argue that their bar was quite low.
Overall, Animal feels like a psychedelic cocktail of a Karan Johar flick and a Rajmouli (Bahubali fame) film, ultimately leaving the viewer feeling mystified about whether to like it, or hate it.
