Animal actor Saurabh Sachdeva said he had no moral dilemma about doing the film

Saurabh Sachdeva, who first came under limelight with the acclaimed Netflix show Sacred Games, had a great year in 2023 - with his performance in 2 big films Jaane Jaan and Animal receiving a lot of acclaim. While Jaane Jaan, which was an OTT release, received somewhat mixed reviews from critics overall, Animal has broken many box office records, also giving a wide visibility to Sachdeva who up until now had been doing work catering to a relatively niche audience.

I was working only to protect my family, Sachdeva said about his Animal character

Animal, besides its box office success, also made news for its questionable portrayal of heroism and alleged glorification of ‘toxic masculinity.’ However, During a recent media interview, Saurabh Sachdeva shared that he had no moral dilemma about doing Animal at all.

Talking from the point of view of his character, Sachdeva added, “There I was only working to protect my family. He is my brother, I have to take care of him and fight the people who would try to harm them – that was the thought. There was no problem with that." Sachdeva also clarified that he was trying his best to stick to the essence of the simple character brief given to him before shoot. He stated, “I never knew the full story of this film. Sandeep Reddy Vanga just told me my part – that we are cousins to Ranbir’s character, that we have a conflict, and we are out there to take revenge. And that I am my brother’s voice.” Sachdeva further spoke about how that’s all he kept in his mind while playing the character, adding that he came to learn of all the criticism coming along Animal’s way much later. 

Sachdeva says he had to push his moral judgments aside for Jaane Jaan

On the contrast, Sachdeva added that he did judge his role as Ajit Mhatra in the Sujoy Ghosh directorial Jaane Jaan, where he played an abusive husband to Kareena Kapoor’s character. He stated, “ I was in two minds because my values were not in line with the character. I had to push those moral judgements aside and think why this character is like this and believe that what he does is right.” Sachdeva also recalled making up a backstory for his character to play the part.

Besides Animal and Jaane Jaan, Saurabh Sachdeva also appeared in prominent roles this year in shows like Kaala and Bambai Meri Jaan. The actor also played a pivotal part in Nawazuddin Siddiqui starrer OTT film Haddi.