Ranbir Kapoor starrer Animal is one of the best movies of this year. Kabir Singh director Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s second film in Hindi. This movie with a duration of 3 hours 21 minutes 16 seconds has a big star cast like Ranbir Kapoor, Rashmika Mandhana, Anil Kapoor, Bobby Deol. There has been a lot of buzz surrounding this film for some time now.
I liked the movie. It uses a different style of film making. There are also some things that we are not used to seeing. The first half of the film is strong while the second half slows down a bit.
Strong points
1:- Ranbir Kapoor
This man has alone ate the entire movie. The character and Ranbir’s performance in it is amazing. There is no need to say anything else about Ranbir Kapoor’s performance. He is undoubtedly one of the best new generation actors working today. Earlier he was compared with Ranveer Singh but with Animal he has put an end to these comparisons. There is no actor like Ranbir among the new generation actors.
2:- Background Music and Music
The songs of the film have become popular. It has a lot of songs and nowhere in the film do they kill the story. Rather they contribute to the story. All these songs have been composed by different musicians. The same pattern was used by Sandeep Reddy during Kabir Singh which has been successful this time too.
The background music of this film is fantastic. It has greatly contributed to increasing the effectiveness of the visuals. Rameshwar Bhagat has scored this background music and it is awesome.
3:- Action scenes
The action scenes in the movie are awesome. The action block during the interval is the biggest scene which is very well choreographed. In which hand to hand fight, axe set piece, machine gun sequence are all good. The fight scene done by Ranbir while the camera is moving from 360 degrees is amazing.
Only that, all this happens in the first part. There is none of this in the second part and the film becomes a bit boring. But if you want to watch the movie just to watch this scene, it is worth the money.
4:- Acting
Acting by everyone is good. Not only Ranbir but everyone who appears on screen has done a good job. Rashmika Mandhana is good in her role. She has done a very good job in emotional scenes. Moreover, here her character is also shown to be stronger than Kabir Singh. In Kabir Singh the heroine is shown weak. But here the heroine is strong. Stands up for herself. After watching the trailer, there was negativity about Rashmika to which she has given the answer in the film.
Apart from this, Suresh Oberoi, Prem Chopra, Tripti Dimri and other co-stars are also good. I personally had a mixed opinion about Anil Kapoor only. His acting is good as it is but in some scenes he did not feel that impressive.
Weak points:
1:- Story
The story of the film is not special. A son who has a bit toxic love for his father kills his father’s killer who happens to be his own brother. That’s all. All this revolves around it for 3 hours and 21 minutes. This film is not made for the story but for the character. In such films, the story weaves – revolves around the main character.
The story does not hold much importance. A character’s journey is shown as much. Animal is such a film. The story of this film could have been done much better but maybe the director didn’t think it was that important.
2:- Bobby Deol
Bobby Deol is the main villain of this movie. And also the big letdown. He has been used very wrongly. I would say wrong because the director missed a great opportunity by showing only 20 minutes of Bobby Deol where a great battle between these two actors – hero and villain could have been shown.
I personally did not like this treatment given to the main villain. The audacity of the director to show the hero and only the hero is beyond comprehension. However, the time he was on the screen, is ih good. Even though it was a small role, he did full justice to it and was fun to watch.
3:- Father Son Relationship
The movie is sold by making topic of Father son relationship its selling point. Basically the issue becomes weak here. The father-son relationship which was the core of the film was not really developed well by the director.
Both Anil Kapoor and Ranbir Kapoor were good in their respective roles and both seemed convincing as father and son. But why does the son love his father so much? Why did their relationship further went so toxic ?
What mistakes did the father make? It was necessary to show how the son was emotionally abused. Due to which the son goes to this level and does so much for his father, it is somehow understood from the contradiction. But it doesn’t happen here.
The director got so involved in showing action, fights and deliberate scenes that would create controversy that he forgot that the audience also needs to connect with the film. The father-son relationship and the son going to a different level for the father has been shown very well in Ranbir’s another film Jagga Jasoos.
4:- Second Half
The second half course of most Hindi films is real. There are so many movies that are good but fall flat after the interval. Animal is no exception to this. The big action scenes of the film take place in the first part and nothing special is seen in the second part. The fight shown between Bobby and Ranbir was not particularly impressive.
The climax of the film is when the son reveals all his thoughts to his father and the father realizes his mistake. The film could have been effective if those dialogues had only been shown through visuals and not just verbal talks. There is a scene at the end of the film which hints at the sequel. But I will say that it is better if it did not come.
Overall the movie is a money grabber. is interesting. There are differences of opinion on what is shown in the film as good or bad. Even I was not convinced. On the whole, seeing the director and his progress with Animal after Kabir Singh, some things have been deliberately thrown in to create controversy. All these things can be discussed in a separate chapter.
Don’t go in if you’re thinking that this film is going to be a commentary on father-son relationships. This is not a movie to watch with family. Not for kids. The film is mainly targeted at the age group of 18 to 40. This movie can be enjoyed with friends.