Animal Review: Ranbir Kapoor's film is a stylishly violent but an empty star vehicle

Animal released today, amidst a lot of buzz… and baggage. With Kabir Singh, Sandeep Reddy Vanga became a cult figure of sorts. His narrative became as much part of discourse as his personal philosophy and viewpoint about his movies. His latest Ranbir Kapoor starrer Animal promises to charter through very much the similar lanes that his previous films Arjun Reddy and Kabir Singh trudged, only with more violence and a newer theme - a troubled father-son bond. But does Animal succeed in ticking all the right boxes?

Hot Take

Animal gives us brief glimpses of a destructive relationship between an absentee father and his emotionally wounded son, before taking us into the manic descent of the desperate son to win over his father’s approval. However, once you figure out that Sandeep Reddy Vanga is not interested (or capable) of saying something deeper, Animal can get tiring with its relentless misogyny and violence.

Does Animal live up to the hype?

Animal does everything that you could expect from the maker of a film like Kabir Singh - only everything is dialled up.

All action, little psychology

Sandeep Reddy Vanga wants to share his philosophy through Animal. But he also wants to say nothing about the psychology of violence or the trauma of relationships. The handful of moments that Vanga makes space for just doesn’t suffice. One needs a deeper look into psychology to sustain a 200-minute-long violent film. Animal doesn’t make space for much of that. Instead, Vanga remains excessively obsessed with capturing every grain of thought that Ranvijay (Ranbir Kapoor) feels, that we barely know what’s happening elsewhere.

Some of these moments capture that desperate anguish of not belonging, of wanting to be loved. Animal is impactful in these scenes. They come close to being a critique of the protagonist’s trauma. And again in the climax, the film returns to Ranvijay’s trauma.

But strangely, it all feels vacuous because Vanga doesn’t spend anytime in capturing the evolving relationship between Ranvijay and Balbir. So much transpires from the film’s opening scenes to the interval point, and yet the audience remains clueless about how Balbir's (Anil Kapoor) feelings change for his son in this period, or whether they do at all or not. Towards the end, when Geetanjali (Rashmika Mandanna) finally decides to do something about their marriage, it makes us feel nothing because we are never sure how this will impact Ranvijay's life.

Portions of great filmmaking scattered throughout

All this hurts even more because Sandeep Reddy Vanga sure knows how to craft a scene, how to use background music and effectively transition between scenes. The first half has that kind of adrenaline and energy that a star vehicle like this needs. These signs are intermittent, but they do leave an impact. The interval scene works despite its relentless noise because Vanga treats it with such conviction.

It starts to become disappointing because deep down you know that this is all Vanga has to offer in Animal, nothing more. You feel that Vanga is going for an element of sadness when the Punjabi track Duniya Jala Denge plays over the gory, violent showdown between the two men, but it never turns emotional because the director has spent too much time earlier indulging himself and writing elaborate subplots and confrontation scenes that add nothing to our knowledge of these people or their universe.

Vanga's reactionary women

What is bothersome is Vanga’s dogged determination to underplay the women in this world ruled by alpha men. In his first real conversation with a woman he has secretly desired for years, Ranvijay tells Geetha that she has a great pelvis that is conducive to producing many babies. In another scene, Ranvijay mocks a psychologist (who happens to be a woman) after agreeing to co-operate.

In a narrative that is already about glorification of a certain idea of manhood, Vanga builds a world around Ranvijay so that his masculinity gets further highlighted. Even towards the climax, there is a throwaway visual of a pregnant woman at the mercy of our protagonist. That scene is not necessary, but you realise that Vanga gets a kick of incorporating these elements that make Ranvijay look closer to his idea of perfect masculinity (which in itself remains hugely problematic and discomforting). Ranvijay constantly talks about things that remind us of his alpha status, especially in his own head.

At one point, Ranvijay introduces his wife to someone as his half - he deliberately omits the word better and yet uses the phrase nonetheless to remind us of the transgression. Animal is filled with these transgressions, and Vanga never gets tired of it. Maybe the Kabir Singh filmmaker really is uninhibited, unconditioned by the modern ideas about gender equations and political correctedness. Or maybe Animal is drafted as a deliberate, provocative response to all the backlash Kabir Singh received.

It’s an out-and-out Ranbir Kapoor show

There is no doubt Ranbir Kapoor has the right charisma and magnitude to carry a role like this. The actor switches from cold-blooded killing to intensity with satisfying ease, and Vanga writes a role that does complete justice to Ranbir’s potential.

It’s Anil Kapoor who is unfortunately wasted in this role that’s neither big or substantial enough for his stature. Rashmika Mandanna, despite her share of moments that allow her to shine, is restricted by the narrative. However, it is Bobby Deol who leaves a big impact despite very limited screen time. It’s also in these moments introducing Deol’s character where Vanga is at his best in terms of building tension and an atmosphere of dread.

Watch it or skip it?

It’s hard to dismiss a movie where it’s clear the maker knows his craft. At the same time, it’s equally difficult to recommend a film that is deliberately provocative and reactionary.

Bottomline

At the end Animal proves our worst fears to be true - it’s all too violent and vacuous at once. There is nothing beyond the surface-level adrenaline of blazing machine guns and a simmer Ranbir Kapoor presence.

Rating - 2/5 stars