Story
Ranvijay Singh (Ranbir Kapoor) is son of the richest man of India Balbir Singh (Anil Kapoor). Ranvijay is obsessive about his father. But Balbir doesn’t give him any attention. Being an instinctive guy, Ranvijay Singh is very volatile/aggressive in his relationships. Both father and son have a turbulent relationship and the story of the film is about how the son proves to his father that he is the greatest son.

Artists Performance
Ranbir Kapoor aced the role and you cannot imagine anybody else in it. Anil Kapoor has reserved his best performance for this film. Bobby Deol, though has limited screen space gives us the thrill, thanks to Sandeep Reddy Vanga for the characterisation. Rashmika Mandanna has given a great performance as the wife. She appears meek and helpless in the beginning, but gathers courage towards the end in that toxic relationship. Tripti Dimri is another revelation in the film. She is beautiful and talented. Among other family members, I liked the expressions given to the hero by the actress who played the younger sister. By looking at her expressions, we can see what's coming. It’s a very good supporting role for Shakti Kapoor. A special mention to two actors - Upendra Limaye as arms supplier Freddy (very eccentric role) and Saurabh Sachdeva (translator brother to the villain who did phenomenal work with his body language and expressions). Babloo Pruthviraj is striking as the villain’s brother.

Story - screenplay - direction: It’s a simple story of a son who wanted to prove to his neglecting father about how much he loves him. What makes the difference is the characterisation and screenplay. It’s an alpha male character who is also very selfish and dictates the choices of everybody in his family. He is also very instinctive and violent. If you think Arjun Reddy (Kabir Singh) character is misogynist and toxic masculine, the character of Animal (Ranvijay Singh) is 10 times more than that. Screenplay of the film is very engaging. Loved the scene where the hero kills a close person (the entire screenplay and revelation later). This is one of the fascinating screenplay techniques I had observed.

Animal character: Sandeep Reddy Vanga has created a new character for the Indian film industry with his protagonist in Animal. Ranvijay has one goal in his life. That is to take care of his family (two sisters and parents). Among four family members, his mother and younger sister understand him and are emphatic about his issues. His father and his elder sister dont understand him and trigger him repeatedly. He is like a ticking time bomb whenever he is around his father and elder sister.

Ranvijay Singh is highly educated. He is a spacecraft engineer and a licensed pilot. But, he loses his cool whenever something happens to his father and his elder sister (and his wife too).

There is so much clarity and consistency in the writing. You can pick hints right from the beginning.

1. When his mother asks if they can clone father, Ranvijay (small kid) replies that cloning takes time and he prefers a body double. When his father is attacked, he prepares a body double. And the villains clone his idea and make a body double of Ranvijay and reveal him towards the post-credits.

2. While addressing the factory workers after the attack, he promises that he would “slit the throat” of the person who plotted assassination. And he does exactly that in the climax of the film.

3. Essence of time/patience: While in his school, Ranvijay says that only time will tell if he is pass/fail/the-best. In another scene, when his father was sending his cousins off, Ranvijay says time/patience is the virtue (by giving example of how he hit back at the people who ragged him) and asks him to wait for the heart donor patiently. In the climax scene, he declares that he is the greatest son in the world.

Inspirations: If you look at the macro view, it's a story of Maha Bharatham. The inspiration of Godfather is also evident (Hero getting to know about the attack on father from a foreign land and return. Then he creates a protection mechanism. The entire brother-in-law thread too). There is a reference to Old Boy in the corridor fight. Kill Bill film in violence orientation. From the music perspective, I can see similarities to the “succession” series (the entire sequence of the 60th birthday of the father).

From an emotional point of view, Animal movie has the strongest emotions. The son’s obsession is constant throughout. But, father’s realization is slow and transformation is gradual.

For the first time, I saw an emotional song when the hero and the villain come face-to-face for the first time in the climax (It’s like showing bonding between two lovers or two family members who got reunited after a long gap). Both these people have ethics. They do hand-to-hand combat.

There are two brutal killings in the film. And the hero is so violent that he keeps chopping (shooting) even after the man is dead.

Some of the scenes in the film are routine, but they look fascinating due to the situation it is put in. For example, when the hero is about to die in climax he recollects the visuals/dialogues of his father’s when he was attacked and then he gets up and finishes the villain. This is an age-old method, but worked brilliantly in the film due to the situation.

Getting the help of cousins is another arresting emotional aspect of the film. The hero reunites the forgotten families.

Hero’s dynamics and treatment of his wife is purely animalistic. Toxic husband and submissive wife is the equation here. We do get to see such couples in real lives too. But, the takeaway in this film is that the wife shows some spine towards the end.

Other departments: The best thing about this film is the music. Songs are great. And background music really took the film to the next level. Music provided for the Roja song remix, the triggering BGM (when the hero hugs his elder sister), interval scene, villain introduction song (jamal kudu song) and climax scene are exceptionally good. Cinematography is very good. Dialogues are written well. Editing is quite good. Action choreography is raw and effective. Production design is exceptionally good. Production values are grand.

Analysis: The title Animal justifies the behavior of the hero. This is the wildest character Indian screen has ever seen in the form of the hero. Generally we see this kind of characterisation for villains, for a change we have it for the hero. We have seen many films where an actor behaves like a psycho for the love of a girl. For the first time, we had seen a film where the hero behaves like a psycho for the love/attention of his father. It’s a normal story, but told with some extraordinary characters put in very interesting situations. Sandeep Vanga breaks all barriers and changes the definition of the hero with this movie. Despite sensational characterisation and extravagant violence what stands out is the emotional side of the hero character seeking his father’s love. Animal is a kind of film that you either love or hate. I loved this movie.