The Cinemawala

‘Animal’ is the story of a broken man, who seeks his father’s validation. It’s also the story of a man called Sandeep Reddy Vanga who takes a sledgehammer to his detractors and bludgeons them to a violent death, after severing their throats. Vanga, post the universal criticism of his last blockbuster film ‘Kabir Singh’ had exclaimed that the audience baying for his blood, is yet to witness true violence in films. Ladies and Gentlemen, ‘Kabir Singh’ is passe! ‘Animal’ is one of the goriest, grisly, brutal hindi films that celebrates toxic masculinity and misogyny. In its 3 hours 21 mins runtime, somewhere around 2 hours, it stops being a film and starts evolving into a Sandeep Reddy Vanga orchestrated ballad of rage and resentment. With blood and gore oozing in each frame, the audience is left either awestruck or dumbfounded at the giant ‘fuck you all’ shown by Vanga.

There are two Vangas who have made this film. Let’s talk about the one who’s a storyteller. He aspires to tell the story of a man who loves his father so much that his affection borders on obsession. Vanga shows how troubled and neglected children can lifelong hold on to this trauma. ‘Animal’ which begins as a man’s troubled relationship with his father, soon becomes a revenge story, of the same man’s bloodthirst for his father’s attempted murder. Vanga’s penchant for elevated, spectacular scenes, is evident as he makes the protagonist an axe wielding, mass murderer go on a rampage, slashing and stabbing an army of intruders, while his hencemen sing paens of a sikh warrior in the background. Vanga also has a keen sense of music, with some terrific background music that boasts of a rework of A R Rehman’s ‘Dil Hai Chota Sa’ on violin and ‘Dolby Walya’ by Ajay Atul. But it hits the peak point with the introduction of the antagonist with an epic rendition of a farsi song ‘Jamal Jamaloo’.

Somewhere in these ample amounts of cinematic brilliances, lurks another Sandeep Reddy Vanga. He’s upset about being called a male chauvinist for his last film. He’s so enraged that he moulds his protagonist in an image that reeks of toxic masculinity. The protagonist thrives on Vanga’s idea that men must conform to certain stereotypes. They must conform to narrow ideals of strength, control, and dominance. The alpha male syndrome perpetuates a hierarchical view of relationships where dominance is valued over cooperation and understanding. Though Vanga emphasizes that this mindset results in strained relationships, his protagonist wears it as a symbol of pride. For the audience, the intrigue about this flawed, misunderstood character soon turns into fatigue as he goes on amping up his alpha male image, destroying whoever comes in his way, be it people or relationships.

‘Animal’ is essentially Sandeep Reddy Vanga masquerading as Ranbir Kapoor. This is an absolute triumph of acting. Whether it’s a triumph of film making or not, it remains to be seen.