Animal - Irresistible Ranbir meets an Immovable Vanga

 Animal - 204 mins - Netflix - Crime, Drama

Warning -

1. This is a long post .
2. I have tried to keep this spoiler free, but I do mention a few points specifically which are widely discussed and public knowledge. 
3. If you are easily offended by  sequences which are demeaning to women, gore ( real chop chop..) and generally abusive behaviour - then I would really recommend you to stay away from movie and maybe even stop reading further. 
4. I wish there was was a PG 13 version of this film, for you to experience the craft of the director and the lead actor - but then a cute little tiger cub is hardly an indication of the man eating beast it can grow into!

As I pen my thoughts - I have an online thesaurus handy - my English vocabulary  is going to need help:). When this movie opened in theatres about 60 days back, there was huge outrage w.r.t the  misogyny, bloodshed, gore , abusive behaviour, dialogues. I suspect this will always be something that will follow a Sandeep Vanga movie -  On top of that, the director publicly vented his ire on some movie critics who called out all the above in his movie. 

I do not agree with many of the scenes - the cringy sex talk with a therapist in public view, the “hickey” inspired Rolls Royce (she is very co operative), the sanitary pad talk , heck he loves making his males walk naked (his concept of true alpha?) - But they are clearly designed to enrage and incite .   Btw , the “child bearing pelvis” dialogue - i am OK in the context of the whole Alpha male / animal kingdom conversation - it would however  stick out in isolation.

With what we have seen of him, Sandeep Vanga seems a very good story teller and his sense of staging scenes comes from very good knowledge of cinema and wanting to tell the story in his own unabashed way. One can only hope that he is able to experience a zen in life and eventually tone down these elements in his movies. I am not expecting him to go the sanskari way, but am sure you can still tell your stories without pushing buttons , when clearly some of the content is by design for exactly that effect!. Heck, I would definitely have been uncomfortable watching this movie in a theatre with audiences cheering such scenes, grateful that I decided to wait and watch at home, in isolation!

An established actor portraying a vile, debauched, masochist, misogynist is not a first time - Al Pacino as the demented, incestouous  Tony “Scarface” Montana. Michael Fassbender as a soulless sex addict in “Shame”.  Leonardo Di Caprio in “The Wolf of Wall Street”  - Rosamund Pike as the “ideal suburban wife” who goes missing in “The Gone Girl” are some that come to mind.   Many of these movies were globally successful as well!, which is the way i see it - they are movies, expressions of art and just that. 

That way in Indian movies, we have not had too many actors who have gone all the way - few come close but there is always the “he is still a hero” and the director has probably had to go soft (pun intended :)) on the actor keeping in mind the public persona, role model what nots. 

Kudos to  Sandeep Reddy Vanga for showing full commitment to the idea  of “ANIMAL” and to Ranbir Kapoor (easily one of the best actors of this generation) going the full monty (again pun intended) -   one of the most “ALL IN” performances by an actor that I have experienced.  You see him as a brother (to his sister and to his cousins from the “pind”) , as a lover (twice!), as a husband, as a father (his one scene with his son is a lovely touch). But it is Ranbir as the son who simmers through out and  consistently detonates on the screen. 

The first half absolute moves at razor sharp speed  and culminates in a thrilling  “OldBoy”  inspired  bloodbath, ( I think the big barrelled gun trope is now overused) . The movie is 204 mins long, it feels long definitely in the third quarter, but Vanga wants to take time to let the dogs out!, and makes you wait with bated breath for things to unfold. The movie eventually hastens towards the predictable outcome at the last quarter, with a climactic man to man and an interestingly written post credits sequence,  promising more!!. 

As the film rolls,  the influences are palpable - The basic premise  is akin to  “Yalgaar” (a movie by Feroz Khan, Sanjay Dutt playing the son wanting Daddy love) on Steroids, LSD, Meth (or whatever is Vanga’s poison!), the 60th birthday sequence which ends up hinting at the betrayal by a close one ( like The Godfather wedding sequence), I already mentioned the Oldboy sequence (with the stirring Arjan Vailly song belting on all cylinders!). 

There is also some very inspired writing (a body double (wow!) -  which also brilliantly influences the post credit scene). The editing (Vanga again) is superb in some portions , but for the length- the scene where Ranbir and Rashmika’s wedding “flight” soars and scene cut straight to the Ranvijay Balbir Singh entry! , or the sequence where it cuts from Ranbir’s angst to unveiling the Bobby Deol as the man behind his misery. 

In the climactic fight with Bobby Deol, the body language is macho, the rage is feral -  the two inhumans are perfectly balanced (not just their motivations, even their disabilities!) . Just when you think you are done - the “let’s do a role-play” scene with Anil Kapoor will leave you gobsmacked! This is a performance Ranbir Kapoor will ALWAYS be remembered for.

The support cast is very good, with whatever little they get to do- Anil Kapoor is mostly barking , but is ok, just !. Bobby Deol is probably the most impactful performance in the shortest screen time that you will see in Hindi movies - sadly his act is more famous now for the whisky glass on the head dance, you are definitely left wanting more!

 I have always wondered about the hype around Rashmika Mandanna - she is an excellent dancer, looks sweet, but in the movies that I have seen - her expressions are mostly mono tone (either happy /cute OR the doe eyed meh…) she mostly does the same here - However, finally she gets the one big scene with Ranbir towards the end ( an unnecessarily long sequence) - does an amazing job. I would also like to credit her for dubbing her own lines in all her movies (across languages), when so many bigger actors aren’t comfortable doing it. She needs to definitely modulate her voice better!

The cameo by the Marathi actor playing Freddy is “brief” yet ballsy (pun intended again). The sisters could have had more scenes (to demonstrate why Ranbir actually loves them so much).  I wish we had  more of Shakti Kapoor, he barely gets any scenes and his character as a man Friday / hand on shoulder to Ranbir could have been explored so much!  Suresh Oberoi and Prem Chopra as grandpas are also nice and  deserved a little more ( Imagine asking for more - But  if you wanted to make a 204 min movie, 10 more mins wouldn't  hurt!)

The songs are nice (a song about a love for a Dad is so rare and Sonu Nigam gives it immortality!) , the score is quite good , the use of other music/ songs, - Threeory’s tribute to Roja, the Marathi song , “Jamal Kudu” are smashing.The song used in the climax  is actually a spoiler! , easily one of the best uses of a song in the closing stages of a movie! At a time where actor cameos are stupidly revealed with a “thank you” in the title card, I am glad T series timed the release of the song just after the movie! opened in theatres.

Final thoughts - If you want to watch this as expression of art and what complete commitment to a theme can do by the director and an actor - this is one of those rare moments of cinema like a Scorcese and De Niro/ Di Caprio - Vanga and Ranbir- take a bow!