Released globally on December 1, the bollywood movie “Animal,” starring Ranbir Kapoor, Anil Kapoor, Bobby Deol and Rashmika Mandanna. Directed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga, this movie explores the story of Ranvijay Singh, son of Balbir Singh, enacting revenge after an assassination attempt on his father. Rated R, the movie became the third highest grossing bollywood movie of 2023, tenth highest grossing Indian film and highest grossing A-rated (adult’s only) Indian movie of all time in just under a month. It is a high crime and action movie featuring a narrow minded idea of masculinity, glorifying aggression, misogyny, violence and toxic relationships.
Vanga’s Filmography
- This is not the first highly violent and misogynistic movie Vanga has directed. Notably his past movies such ‘Arjun Reddy’ and its hindi remake ‘Kabir Singh’ also have similar themes. In both of them, violence, misogyny, toxic relationships and mistreatment of their partner are recurring themes. Post their release, both movies also faced similar mixed reviews with the divide being promoting these themes among youth.
Ranvijay’s Character
- Since his early days Ranvijay (Vijay) has adored Balbir but with his father leading the company “Swastik Steels” he rarely had time to spare for his family. Which made Vijay harbor grudges against him while still loving his father to the extreme. But the lack of a father’s influence early on leads him to develop violent behavior. Tired of his violent behavior, Balbir sends Vijay to a boarding school in the United States. Years after his return Balbir only hopes that his son is a changed man but it all washes away as he returns back harboring the same “alpha male” ideals.
Plot Background
- Years later, after getting married and moving to the United States, Vijay is forced to return after his father’s attempted assassination leaves him hospitalized. Vijay has reason to believe that the culprit won’t rest till Balbir is dead and then begins to construct a plan to find the culprit. Post the point of his return, Vijay’s violent nature begins to emerge into a full display compared to the small glimpse before. As the movie progresses, the violence turns up from mere mentions to actual murder.
Geetanjali’s Hesitant Nature
- Throughout the course of the plot, Geetanjali is portrayed to be unsettled again and again by Vijay. She is uncomfortable by Vijay’s behavior towards her and others. The casual mentions of killing, his violent nature and his controlling behavior towards her is deeply unsettling. This particular scenario fuels the idea of avoiding divorce as long as possible. These ideas portrayed in movies may also discourage people from leaving toxic relationships and prioritizing themselves.
Filmmakers need to recognize the influence movie content holds over its audience. There should be a sensitivity in handling these themes and carefulness as to promoting them. The aggression heavy movie is simply insensitive. Even though it encourages talk about misogyny more than any other movie it still threatens to influence people to support such toxic themes.