Writer-Director-Editor Sandeep Reddy Vanga, known for his complex approach to cinema, paints a sordid picture with his three-and-a-half-hour film. One thing that Vanga has succeeded in, apart from the box office, is making Kabir Singh appear much more frail in comparison to its successor.
From the get-go, Ranvijay Singh’s (Ranbir Kapoor) absurd obsession with his father acts as the film's driving force. Craving for his father’s attention since childhood, Vijay, or self-proclaimed Balbir Singh II, grows up feeling the need to be the “man of the house.” He sees himself as an “alpha male” or a vigilante of sorts. Much like the protagonist, the audience remains clueless and struggles to understand the reason behind Vijay’s overflowing passion for his father throughout the film.
The film then introduces us to Vanga’s feminist redemption- Geetanjali (Rashmika Mandanna) next, who, unlike her predecessor, Preeti Sikka from Kabir Singh, has been given more than two dialogues to deliver in the film. She remains perpetually angry, much like her husband, but is easily swayed by sex.
People coming into Animal’s defense have the bravery to associate it with cinematic masterpieces such as The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola), Scarface (Brian De Palma), and every Tarantino film ever — bearing in mind that violence is an integral part of these films. It is no surprise that in films where the central tenet is the “bad guys,” the concepts of justice and morality are, at their core, complicated. Still, it is ludicrous to think that anything that Reddy Vanga has made so far can even be thought about in the same breath as Tarantino or Coppola’s storytelling. All Reddy Vanga has is Ranbir Kapoor, soaked in blood, and with an axe in hand.
A Clockwork Orange’s commentary on a dystopian society where violence thrives is an interesting example of a film with a protagonist who is unhealthily driven by violence and sex. Kubrick’s narrative mirrors a sense of reality through the interactions and violent impulses of the protagonist — something severely lacking in Vanga’s feeble screenplay.
Despite several attempts at building a plot, the screenplay is only filled with discontinuity and the scenes merely strung together. Arguably, there is no more than only one aspect in the film where an attempt seems to have been made. Composed by Manan Bhardwaj, the entire Arjan Vailly pre-interval sequence, shot almost like a music video, leaves an impact on the viewers. Even if Reddy Vanga professes huge “inspiration” from some of the greatest directors, the corridor fight resembled a little too much of Park Chan-Wook’s Oldboy.
It is only in the last 20 minutes of the film that we are introduced to a mute Bobby Deol as Abrar Haque, playing the antagonist. One might think that his character will result in substantiating the plot that has been inconsequential so far, toward a more well-grounded conclusion. Yet, the only thing that Deol's character adds to the film is his rage, which only makes Kapoor look comparatively civilized.
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