Non Spoiler Brief
Before going down into the story, I would say that the the movie definitely deserves a watch and only by those who aren't triggered easily. To all my feminist and liberal friends, kindly stay away from this as halfway through the film, you will be pulling your hairs.
Everyone's performance is great. I won't waste much time praising Ranbir Kapoor, except telling that AN ACTOR LIKE HIM IS BORN ONCE IN A DECADE. Anil Kapoor is terrific as the strict yet naive father and his penultimate scene (the opening scene of the trailer) is a highlight. Bobby Deol is given a criminally trimmed screen time and his entry scene alone is one highlight part of the movie. He definitely is menacing as Abrar but again we needed more screen time to know more about him. Rashmika Mandanna is natural and does her part well, ironically the scene for which she was trolled the most in the trailer, is her best act in the movie and there's a reason why she cannot tell things properly as she herself cannot decipher the event her husband caused at that point (although there's no justification why her hindi was so unclear and mumbled in the beginning portions also). Among the supporting characters, Charu Shankar (Jyoti Singh), Babloo Prithveeraj (Asrar Haque), Saloni Batra (Vijay's elder sister), Tripti Dimri, Sidhant Karnik (Varun) all are good in their roles. Vanga has interestingly brought the most famous villian trio of 80s, Shakti Kapoor, Prem Chopra, Suresh Oberoi (whose role is very much important for further movies about which is discussed below) and casted them in the most positive roles of this film. Upendra Limaye in the interval block is a treat to eyes. Saurabh Sachdeva (Abid Haque) needs a special mention for the brilliant act he has put up in the brief appearance.
The background score by Harshwardhan Rameshwar is itself a character in the film, especially the eerie whistle tunes.
The interval block is one of the best I have watched till now in Indian Cinema. 2nd half lags a bit, but not much. The climax confrontation and the post credit scene is a treat.
Let me tell you, this not your REGULAR MASS MOVIE, where everything ends on a good note, the end may be emotional, maybe even depressing for some and the post credit scene tells you in your face that the real horror is reserved for the sequel.
Now if you haven't watched the movie, leave from here only as spoilers will be there after this.
Story Analysis
The story is of a man Ranvijay Singh Balbir or simply we will refer it as Vijay Singh (Ranbir Kapoor), who can cross each and every limit to get the validation of his father Balbir Singh (Anil Kapoor). The story definitely kept me on the edge of my seat until the Zoya (Tripti Dimri) angle came up. Vijay was represented as a character strict of his morals that he even at a point warned his sister to cut all the ties with her boyfriend (who had evil intentions) before he murders him, fires AK47 in college because some students ragged his elder sister, points rifle at his wife for talking ill of his father .etc. but as soon as that affair angle begins, I started to loose some interest in the story, although that was also negated later as the sole purpose of that whole affair was to find the mole, and Vijay even later repents it by apologizing to Geethanjali (Rashmika Mandanna), falling on her legs .etc., but it still it felt dragged and unnecessary.
The Antagonists are Haque brothers. Abrar Haque (Bobby Deol), a mute madman who doesn't bats an eyelid before stabbing a person in Joker (2019) style (when Arthur murders Randall) and mourns the death of his brother by ra*ing his newly wed pregnant wife with a blood soaked face infront of many people and then does a forceful four*ome with all his 3 wives. The 2nd brother Asrar Haque (Babloo Prithveeraj) is an overconfident maniac who manages the Singhs on ground level in Delhi. The 3rd brother Abid Haque (Saurabh Sachdeva) is Abrar's support and mostly acts as the brain of the brothers. And the youngest brother Aziz Haque (Ranbir Kapoor), whose real face is practiclly unknown, has gone berserk after knowing about the death of his 2 brothers and is a butcher from Istanbul who shows his butchering skills in one of the most violent scene of Bollywood recently.
Talking about the protagonist Vijay Singh, he does many things which will lead to discussions even after the film is removed from theatres, so it's upto you guys to discuss about that. The only thing that redeems him to some extent that he doesn't get a happy ending this time unlike Kabir Singh, in the end, he neither gets the love of his father, knows that he is going to loose his father forever after a few months, his sister breaks all ties with him, his wife leaves him and he finally realises that the kind of ignorance he got from his father throughout his childhood, he is doing the same with his own son (he barely has 2 scenes with his son, in order to take revenge of his father he ignores him throughout the film) and now it will be interesting to see the dynamics between them in Animal Park.
Why so much hate?
From the day the teaser dropped, there have been innumerable allegations on the director on being misognyst and what not? Were people overreacting? Or should Sandeep Reddy Vanga have been more responsible while writing Animal?
Do filmmakers have a social responsibility? I am no one to say that. Because sometimes responsibilities create boundaries and boundaries hamper art. But that also doesn't mean that the filmmaker should be reckless in his process. There are some instances which even I felt cring like where Vijay after cheating his wife, apologises to her and she asks "Agar mein kisi aur ke sath sokar aati kya tum mujhe maaf kar dete?" to which he replies "Kisiko paas bhi nahi aane dunga tumhare" now that is clear hypocrisy, but again as the title mentions, Vijay Singh is referred as an Animal, he has negligible human traits and emotions (except for his own family). So there are some scenes which didn't sit well. But that's not the real issue. Just take a look at all those people protesting against Animal and accusing that it's gonna destroy the upcoming generations. Anyone reading this can very well know that I'm talking about which people. You can see what opinions do they have on the following films or series.
They are accusing Animal for promoting violence. These same people promoted film like Gangs of Wasseypur and series like Sacred Games. What was shown in those films? That 4 teletubbies coming and dancing on sceen? Is that what was shown there?
They are accusing Animal to be Islamophobic by showing Abrar Haque's character as a rapist (BTW Abrar Haque's character, an antagonist is the perfect representation of hypertoxic masculinity, which these people always complain about, but still they can't speak anything about it now due to obvious reasons.). Now if I had to counter this Islamophobic argument, it would take me nearly 3 days to first of all even count the number Hinduphobic content these people have promoted.
They are accusing Animal of promoting cheating and abuse to spouse. Where were these people during a film like Haseen Dilruba, where Taapsee Pannu's character cheats on her husband with his younger brother. And when that younger brother dumps her, then she comes back to her husband and when huband needed some time to think over it, then what's her reaction? "FORGIVE ME ELSE I WILL COMMIT SUICIDE" and after all this bull, the husband fogives her and they are shown as a happy couple after this, whereas in Animal Geetanjali leaves slaps Vijay, insults his father infront of him and finally leaves him, when he actually wasn't even cheating on her, but finding out the mole.
Still there are some things which were unnecessary like the whole Zoya segment and infact the whole plot about the Singhs and Haques being cousin brothers could have happened a lot earlier in the film and it would also have solved so many problems earlier also, rather it happens 3 hours later during a casual conversation between Vijay and his grandfather (Suresh Oberoi).
Final Thoughts
Animal is not for everyone, especially if you belong to the MAH LIFE MAH CHOICE brigade then kindly stay miles and miles away from this film. Technically as a film Animal is very good, with Ranbir Kapoor telling that he doesn't need to prove anyone anything anymore, as an actor, he easily gives one of the best performances of cinema this year, but as a character there definitely are some flaws. And again this film is a strict 18+ film so keep the teenage wannabe SIGMA MALES away from this as after Ryan Gosling, this can become their new obsession (now that's parents' responsibility to keep a check on their teenage children, not film makers' responsibility)
Still even after all this you want to criticise the movie for unnecessary reasons, then Sandeep Reddy Vanga had already given a reply in the final scene (buchuk!)
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