#Director #SandeepReddyVanga, who earlier gave us #ArjunReddy and #KabirSingh, both psychology loaded films continues the same path with #RanbirKapoor starrer #Animal. The director’s protagonists are male chauvinists who are romantics but do not respect their lady love. In Animal he has interwoven a father-son relationship which becomes excessively toxic as the minutes pass by. To prove his love towards his father the protagonist uses the path of violence but his father is against this which makes the main lead more aggressive and angry. Surprisingly he excessively dominates in his marital life but the similar behaviour by his brother in law towards his sister is unacceptable to him.
Vijay (Ranbir Kapoor) loves his father Balbir Singh (Anil Kapoor) excessively. He longs to spends a few minutes with his father who is his idol. But Balbir Singh is constantly engrossed in expanding his business and has no time for family or children. This keeps irking Vijay and the psychological turmoil within makes him a violent person. He goes abroad for higher studies and on return finds out that the girl he loves from childhood is getting married to someone else. Geetanjali (Rashmika Mandana) responds to his logic of Alpha Men theory and breaks her engagement to marry him. But Vijay’s father doesn’t approve this and throws him out of the house. He and Geetanjali go to USA and spend six blissful years producing two children. Balbir Singh gets shot here which brings Vijay back to the city. He tracks down the culprits and starts taking revenge because they have tried to finish his most beloved person on this earth. What transpires after and in between forms the crux of the story.
Animal looks an extentions of Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s earlier films and the main lead continues the tradition of treating females as puppets. This psychological revenge drama has been laced with family tracks, the father-son relationship taking the frontline. This must be one of the lengthiest films of recent times as it has 3 hours and 23 minutes runtime and a sequel Animal Park too is announced in the end credits. The film might have been inspired by the action-emotions filled Godfather. His take on women and violence may unsettle a few viewers. The action choreography is well etched out but a couple of unnecessary lengthy actions scenes are illogical. One of them has a song playing in the background sung by a dozen people and the hero single handedly fighting enemies. Special mention for background score as it elevates the effect of the proceedings on screen. Ranbir Kapoor is excellent in the film. (One star out of three and a half is entirely for him). He plays this psychologically fluctuating role with elan. Ranbir is one of the finest actors of this generation. He becomes the character with ease and lends unpredictability to deranged character with conviction. Rashmika Mandana looks beautiful and plays a Geetanjali with ease and brings out the strong points of the character to the fore. Leaving her husband for infidelity gives a strong message. Anil Kapoor excels in emotional scenes and Bobby Deol is impressive in a short screen time.
Animal is a psychological action packed family revenge drama where the director goes overboard in action scenes.
Rating: ***1/2
