INDIA: Happy birthday, Ranbir Kapoor! It was no joke when Sandeep Reddy Vanga said that Animal would be his most violent film. The latest teaser of the Ranbir Kapoor starrer is finally out, and it adds more gravity to the fact that Vanga’s crime drama will obviously be filled with blood-bath action sequences, but his signature style of exploring the rawness of human emotions will be the centre stage.
Following the stylised plus the action mayhem pre-teaser, Arjun Reddy and Kabir Singh fame Sandeep Reddy Vanga unleashed the teaser on Kapoor’s birthday. The 2-minute and 26-second teaser takes us on an intense escapism where we are lost in the characters of Vanga’s world.
Especially Ranbir’s villain arc, which is showcased scene by scene with a serene yet menacing background score, is all that we need to witness on the big screen.
Animal teaser: A story of ‘The Father, The Son, and The Villain’
Vanga has selected some of the finest actors from Indian cinema to craft his team for Animal. We have Ranbir donning the role of the most violent gangster, which probably will be a grey character instead of a proper hero, or who knows, he might be the villain of someone’s story.
To add to the rawness of human emotion, we have Anil Kapoor as Ranbir’s father. The relationship between both characters will be the crux of the story. This is evident from a line in the teaser: “EXPERIENCE A FATHER SON BOND CARVED IN BLOOD.”
Rashmika Mandanna is also in the ensemble cast and will play the role of Geetanjali, Ranbir’s wife. It appears her character will showcase a somewhat unexplored human side of the protagonist, who has now donned the boots of an Animal. Earlier, Parineeti Chopra was set to play the role of Geetanjali, but reportedly, she chose to star in Imtiaz Ali’s Chamkila. Later, Rashmika was finalised for the role.
There is an interaction between Ranbir and Rashmika in the teaser. The whole conversation flips 360 degrees when there is a mention of Ranbir’s father. The stale expression on his face teleports us to a flashback where his father slaps him, saying, “Jyoti. We’ve given birth to a criminal.” But contrary to the situation, Ranbir says, “My father is the best father in the world.” This scene hints that Vanga is cooking something interesting for the audience instead of a cliché stapled in most Indian crime dramas.
To put someone worthy and more violent than Ranbir’s Animal, Vanga has put forth Bobby Deol as the monster of this story. He appears just for a split second at the end of the teaser but manages to steal the show with his vicious eyes that appear to hold the cruelty the world is not ready to witness.
But how does Ranbir vs. Bobby fit into Animal? The answer to the question is that Bobby may have killed Ranbir’s father; this led to him slowly marching on the path of the underworld for revenge. The change in his persona is showcased by a transformation from a clean-shaven young man to a person with a full-grown, dense beard and long hair. This never-before-seen look of Ranbir surely builds the anticipation factor for Animal.
The teaser is loaded with high technical aspects, whether it is the whistle-themed music playing in the background or the unique character design in a perfectly shot scene. Props to the costume designer, who had a terrific idea of the gangsters with funky masks.
It would be icing on the cake if the teaser featured the Punjabi song by Bhupinder Babbal and Manan Bharadwaj, which was first heard in the pre-teaser. It seems that the makers have kept the music for the trailer release.
Animal has a long path for promotions and music releases, as it is set to release on December 1. This also gives fans enough time to theorise that Ranbir’s character will be dead till the climax or survive to tell the tale.
Also Read: ‘Animal’ Postponed: Unveiling Possible Reasons for the Delay of Ranbir Kapoor Starrer
