The Beast Within: A Review of the Film ‘Animal’

Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s latest offering “Animal” is an intense and gritty revenge drama that explores the dark side of human relationships. Centered around the troubled father-son duo of Balbir and Ranvijay Singh, the over 3-hour long film is replete with violence, volatile emotions, and moral ambiguity.

A Volatile Lead Performance

Ranbir Kapoor plays the film’s volatile protagonist Ranvijay, delivering a powerful performance as an entitled man-child desperate for his businessman father Balbir’s (Anil Kapoor) attention and validation. Ranvijay frequently resorts to violence when faced with any threat to his family’s business empire or his father’s safety. His pathological entitlement and intensity is depicted through an array of troubling behaviors – whether its threatening his sister’s college classmates with a gun as a young boy or making aggressive advances towards his childhood crush Geetanjali (Rashmika Mandanna).

Ranvijay’s mental health issues remain unaddressed despite clear red flags. His father does little except admonish him mildly or enable his troubling behaviors. The only attempts made to understand Ranvijay come from his wife Geetanjali, who Ranvijay treats more as a possession than an equal. Their unhealthy dynamic, just like most relationships depicted in the film, lies firmly in Ranvijay’s grip.

A Meandering Revenge Saga

When a conspiracy to take over the Singh family’s steel empire emerges, Ranvijay takes it upon himself to violently eliminate every threat and enemy. This sparks a brutal blood feud with the shadowy forces out to get the Singhs, including the sinister heir of a European weapons conglomerate called Animal (Bobby Deol).

What follows is a meandering tale of vengeance filled with stomach-churning violence and problematic tropes. Rather than focusing on the complex psychological motivations behind revenge, Animal relies on exploiting the national sentiment by framing the quest for retribution as a matter of masculine pride and duty.

Sensitive topics like mental illness and abuse are used more for shock value rather than thoughtful commentary. Scenes often drag on indulgently, trying to desperately provoke a reaction rather than truly engage. For instance, a disturbing sequence involving Animal assaulting his new bride at their wedding while her relatives watch helplessly goes on for far too long without narrative purpose.

The few female characters present seem to only enable the male ego rather than exist for themselves. Any attempts to critique male entitlement are cursory, undermined by the film’s own geeky fascination with violent, unstable male antiheroes.

Slick But Soulless

On a purely technical level, Animal is slick and stylish but strikingly soulless. The action sequences and their accompanying folksy songs have an energetic quality likely to appeal to fans of the genre.

But the film fails to support its arresting craft with any thematic depth or emotional resonance. The father-son relationship, though central to the plot, lacks nuance and meaningful development. Anil Kapoor seems wasted in a role that requires him to do little except occasionally display anguish.

Uneven pacing, jarring tonal shifts between high drama and odd humor, and painfully self-indulgent writing further undermine the film. Animal appears less a coherent film and more a platform for lead actor Ranbir Kapoor and director Sandeep Reddy Vanga to simply flex their skills.

The film’s clear disdain for any thoughtful criticism and desperation to shock makes its nearly 3 hour runtime more exhausting than engaging. In the end, Animal is an intriguing but ultimately hollow beast – fiery, violent, even visceral, yet lacking in purpose or soul.

 

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