Animal is a 2023 Indian Hindi-language action drama film directed and edited by Sandeep Reddy Vanga, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Pranay Reddy Vanga and Saurabh Gupta. The film is produced by Bhushan Kumar, Pranay Reddy Vanga, Krishan Kumar and Murad Khetani under T-Series Films, Bhadrakali Pictures and Cine1 Studios. The film stars Ranbir Kapoor, Anil Kapoor, Bobby Deol, Rashmika Mandanna, and Triptii Dimri. The film is about Ranvijay "Vijay" Singh, a violent man, who learns about an assassination attempt on his estranged father and sets out on a path of revenge and destruction.
The film and its title were officially announced in January 2021. Principal photography commenced in April 2022, with Amit Roy handling the cinematography, and wrapped by April 2023. Animal has music composed by JAM8, Vishal Mishra, Jaani, Manan Bhardwaj, Shreyas Puranik, Ashim Kemson and Harshwardhan Rameshwar. With a runtime of 201 minutes, Animal is one of the longest Indian films ever made. It was initially set for an August 2023 release but was postponed due to post-production work.[5]
Ranvijay "Vijay" Singh is the son of Balbir Singh, a Delhi business tycoon. His love for his father is deep and abiding though the latter's schedule keeps him from spending time with his family. One day, Balbir banishes Vijay to boarding school in the USA when Vijay threatens the bullies of his sister Reet with an AK-47. Vijay finishes his education and returns home after several years. During Balbir's birthday party, Vijay gets into an argument with Reet's husband Varun, prompting Balbir to expel him from the house yet again. Vijay marries his childhood love Geetanjali, and the couple cuts ties with their respective families and moves to the USA.
Eight years later, Vijay, Geetanjali and their two kids return to India upon learning that Balbir has been shot by assassins. Vijay reconciles with his family and takes it upon himself to uncover the assassin's identity. He rounds up his cousins from the village for backup and recruits a body double for his father who is eventually killed by the assassin named Asrar Haque. Vijay discovers Varun's role in the assassination attempt and kills him publicly at a conference where Asrar is also present. Asrar and his assailants launch a hefty attack on Vijay and his cousins at a hotel. Vijay takes them all down and kills Asrar but he is severely wounded and goes into a coma. He wakes up after two weeks and undergoes a heart transplant for his failing heart.
Vijay recuperates after several months and is approached by Zoya, the fiancée of his heart donor. He starts an affair with Zoya who eventually reveals that she was sent by Asrar's brother Abrar Haque to honey trap him. However, Vijay had already known this and played along to learn the mastermind's identity. He leaves Zoya and learns from his grandfather Rajdheer Singh that Abrar and his brothers are Vijay's second cousins. They are the grandchildren of Shamsher Singh, Rajdheer's younger brother. Rajdheer had renounced Shamsher for his immoral antics. Shamsher's son Azim, who had converted to Islam, was denied any share in Balbir's assets, which prompted Shamsher to commit suicide. Abrar, who had witnessed his grandfather's suicide, became mute from the trauma. Abrar has relocated to Scotland and has been the one plotting against Balbir to seek vengeance for his family.
Vijay and his cousins stop Abrar as he is about to escape the country in a private jet with his third brother Abid. A violent duel ensues on the runway, ending in Vijay killing Abrar. Back home during Diwali, Balbir reveals that he has stage 4acute lymphoblastic leukemia with only a few months left to live. He realises that his lack of love for his son has always been the root cause of Vijay's aggression. Balbir finally apologises and the two reconcile.
In a post-credits scene, Aziz Haque, a butcher in Istanbul and the youngest of the Haque brothers, undergoes plastic surgery to resemble Vijay. Zoya is with him and revealed to be pregnant, though unsure whether the child's father is Aziz or Vijay. Aziz sets out with Abid to exact retaliation for the deaths of their two elder brothers.
Cast
Ranbir Kapoor as Ranvijay "Vijay" Singh and Aziz Haque(voice dubbed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga)
In September 2019, it was reported that Sandeep Reddy Vanga would turn into a producer for his next directional venture in Bollywood. It was further reported that he would produce the venture along with Murad Khetani, Ashwin Varde, Bhushan Kumar and Kishan Kumar under Cine1 Studios and T-Series.[13] On 10 October, the company's and Vanga's new production banner Bhadrakali Pictures announced their collaboration for Vanga's next directional; marking their second collaboration after Kabir Singh (2019).[14] In early December, Vanga was reported to have approached Ranbir Kapoor to play the lead role in the film. ETimes reported that Kapoor was "keen" to work on the film, however, would finalize it only after hearing the final script, which was still progressing writing.[15]
In June 2020 however, it was reported that Vanga met Kapoor in January and narrated another script, which was reportedly titled Devil.[16] In late December, Anil Kapoor was reported to be part of the cast.[17] On 1 January 2021, the company's made an official public announcement of the venture, revealing also the title of the film and the crew.[18] In late April, Bobby Deol and Parineeti Chopra were cast, with the former playing lead antagonist role, while the latter plays lead actress role.[19]
In March 2022, it was reported that Rashmika Mandanna was to dance in an item number for the film.[20] The same month, Mandanna had replaced Chopra, as Vanga was not satisfied with the casting of Chopra during photoshoots.[21] On 2 April, Mandanna's commitments were officially announced.[22] Mandanna called it "a dream come true."[23]
Filming
Principal photography began in Manali in April 2022.[24][25] The second schedule was in Mumbai in May 2022 and filming was held at Pataudi Palace in July 2022.[26] The next schedules were held in Delhi and Punjab.[27][28] The filming was wrapped up in mid-March 2023. The film resumed in England and Scotland beginning in April with a schedule of 15–20 days.[29]
The album features eight tracks with four singles—"Hua Main",[31] "Satranga",[32] "Papa Meri Jaan"[33] and "Arjan Vailly"[34]—were released before the audio launch. The soundtrack to Animal was released at a music launch and fan experience event held on 24 November 2023 at Mehboob Studio in Mumbai.[35] A deluxe edition album was released on 15 January 2024, featuring nine additional tracks.[36]
Marketing
The teaser was released on Kapoor's Birthday 28 September 2023.[37] Arijit Singh held a concert in Chandigarh where Ranbir Kapoor joined him to promote film with the song Satranga on 4 November 2023.[38][39] During the semi-final of 2023 Cricket World Cup, Ranbir Kapoor attended the stadium to watch the match and for promotional activities of the film on 15 November 2023.[40][41] The teaser was showcased on Burj Khalifa on 18 November 2023,[42] they also conducted film promotions at Marq Club and Dubai's Global Village on the same day in Dubai.[43][44][45][46][47] The trailer was released on 23 November 2023.[48][49][50] The cast appeared on the Unstoppable talk show, which premiered on Aha on 24 November 2023.[51][52] They also appeared on Indian Idol.[53][54] Before the pre-release event they conducted press conference tours in Hyderabad, Chennai, and Bengaluru.[55][56][57] The film held its pre-release event in Hyderabad on 27 November 2023 with Mahesh Babu and S. S. Rajamouli as the chief guests.[58][59][60][61]
Release
Theatrical
Animal was initially set for an 11 August 2023 release, but was postponed due to post-production and dubbing work.[62] It was theatrically released on 1 December 2023 in standard and IMAX formats in Hindi with dubbed versions in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada languages.[63] The film was released across 4000 screens in India, the screen count was impacted due to the clash with Sam Bahadur which was releasing on the same day.[64]
The film had planned to premiere in North America on 30 November 2023, a day before its release.[65] In the United States, it will be screened in 888 theaters, marking the highest number for a Hindi film, surpassing the screen count of Brahmāstra: Part One – Shiva (2022) and Jawan (2023).[66][67]
AA Films acquired the theatrical rights of the film to distribute in North India and overseas. Sri Venkateswara Creations acquired the distribution rights for Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. E4 Entertainment and AP International acquired distribution rights for Tamil Nadu and Kerala. KVN Productions acquired distribution rights for Karnataka. Moksha Movies and Nirvana Cinemas acquired theatrical distribution rights for North America.[70]
Home Media
The digital streaming rights of Animal were acquired by Netflix.[71] The film was premiered on Netflix from 26 January 2024. While Vanga initially stated that it would have an additional 8 minutes of footage,[72][73] it was later announced that Netflix would stream the theatrical cut with no additional scenes.[74]
Reception
Box office
Animal broke several box-office records for a Hindi film.[75][76][77][78] The film had the fourth-biggest advance booking in Hindi cinema, and the third-highest for 2023 after Jawan and Pathaan.[79] On its opening day, the film collected a total India net of ₹63.8 crore (US$8.0 million) second highest after Jawan, worldwide gross of ₹116 crore (US$15 million) including overseas gross of US$5.5 million (₹46 crore).[80][81] Eventually it became the highest non-holiday opening of all time for a Hindi film breaking the previous record held by Ranbir Kapoor's Brahmāstra: Part One – Shiva.[82] On its second day, netted over ₹67 crore and over ₹70 crore on third day in India for a three days total net collection of ₹201 crore and became one of the fastest Hindi film to achieve this after Jawan,[83][84] making it third top opening weekend for Hindi films.[85] Worldwide it earned over ₹100 crore (US$13 million) for three consecutive days during its opening weekend, for a total worldwide weekend gross collection of ₹356 crore (US$42.1 million).[86] It had one of the highest Hindi net collection on its first Monday and Tuesday.[87][88] In the first week it earned a total worldwide gross collection of ₹563 crore (US$71 million).[89] On its 8th day, the film surpassed the lifetime worldwide collection of Sanju (2018) and becomes the highest-grossing film of Kapoor's career.[90] On its 17th day, the film reached ₹500 crore net collection across all languages in India and on the same day the film crosses 3 crore footfalls in India.[91][92][93] On its 35th day, the film reached ₹500 crore net in Hindi and ₹550 crore across all languages in India, eventually it became the second-highest net grossing Hindi film in India.[94]Box Office India declared the film an "All Time Blockbuster".[95][96]
In the United States, the film was released alongside Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé, Silent Night, Godzilla Minus One, and The Shift, and made $6.1 million from 888 theatres in its opening weekend, finishing in seventh place, behind the second weekend totals of Wish and Napoleon.[97] Worldwide, it emerged as the No. 1 film on its opening weekend with the total of $42.1 million including the $13.88 million of international markets, surpassing all the films globally.[98] In its first week the film earned over $19.2 million from international markets.[4]
As of 26 January 2024[update], the film has grossed over ₹662.33 crore (US$83 million) in India and ₹255.49 crore (US$32 million) in overseas for a worldwide gross collection of ₹917.82 crore (US$110 million).[4]
Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 30% of 27 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.4/10. The website's consensus reads: "Overlong, overly violent, and thinly written, Animal goes wildly over the top to little avail."[99]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 33 out of 100, based on 4 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews.[100]
Awarding the film 4.5/5 stars, Bollywood Hungama praised "Ranbir Kapoor’s outstanding performance, clap-worthy massy scenes, and interval block."[101]Sukanya Verma of Rediff gave 4/5 stars and wrote "Animal is relentless as a euphoric medley of feral rage and dance of the dysfunctional. The twists go on well until end credits as more blood is splattered our way."[102] Ganesh Aaglave of Firstpost gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote "Animal is an adrenaline experience which will have polarising views but you can't deny its entertaining quotient, breathtaking performances and storytelling."[103] Puja Awasthi of The Week gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote "Animal for all its blood and gore, is the story of a son’s aching desire for his father’s approval. Why even its ballads are less romance, more revenge. And its female characters for all their luminosity, are just props".[104]
Monika Rawal Kukreja of Hindustan Times found it "an absolute massy, entertaining and extremely violent thriller which doesn't believe in conforming to the norms", while adding that the extreme violence might be off-putting for some.[105] Titas Chowdhury of News18 gave 3.5/5 stars, labelled it "dark, loud and garish but also unapologetic", and thought that Ranbir Kapoor "breathes life into this undesirable character with a lot of charisma and swag".[106] Abhimanyu Mathur of DNA India rated the film 3.5/5 and opined, "Animal takes everything that was problematic and increases it several notches. It is downright the most violent Hindi film I have seen, and also one of the most inherently toxic and misogynist. The amazing part is that it is still very well made and entertaining, enhanced further by yet another great performance from Kapoor".[107]
Conversely, Renuka Vyavahare of The Times of India gave 2.5/5 stars and termed the film "all swag and no substance derailed family drama"; she was critical of "Vanga's take on women or violence" but praised Ranbir's "raw sex appeal and unmatched intensity".[108]India Today's Anvita Singh gave 2/5 stars and wrote "Ranbir Kapoor is stellar in problematic, paper-thin film."[109] Nandini Ramnath of Scroll.in wrote "Ranbir is on fire, inhabiting to a frightening degree Vijay's delusional personal war. Reptile-eyed even at his smouldering best, Kapoor's career-best performance makes Animal tough to stomach, but equally difficult to ignore".[110]
In a negative review, Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express expressed disappointment that the performances of Ranbir and Anil Kapoor had been "wasted in this pointless, vile tale".[111]Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV gave 1.5/5 stars and wrote "The sickeningly violent father-son action drama rarely pauses for breath."[112] Sowmya Rajendran of The News Minute gave 1.5/5 stars and wrote "Sandeep Reddy Vanga's film has the kind of writing you'll find in BDSM erotica like Fifty Shades of Grey, but presented with the same earnestness of 'pure love' that we saw in Arjun Reddy."[113] Phuong Le of The Guardian gave 1/5 stars and wrote "Animal sinks even further into regressive depths, resulting in one of the vilest protagonists to have graced the big screen."[114][115]
Do It Creative LTD. NY VFXWala, Visual Birds, Red Chillies VFX, Famous Studios
Sequel
The film's post-credits scene teases a sequel titled Animal Park,[121] which was confirmed in December 2023 by Vanga. Shortly after the film's release, he said the sequel would be "darker" and "meaner" than its predecessor.[122]