Ram Gopal Varma reviews Animal — 5 takeaways that frame Sandeep Reddy Vanga's controversial film

Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma has provided insights into director Sandeep Reddy Vanga's controversial film, Animal, offering key points that shed light on its divisive nature. Animal was released last week to polarising reactions, garnering a lot of flak for the protagonist's treatment of women. Many have called this film a "vile attempt" and some have expressed outright disgust, questioning its place in mainstream Indian cinema.

On the other spectrum, Animal is celebrated for what is touted to be an "honest and raw" portrayal of violence, sex and revenge. In the wake of the release of Animal, numerous opinion and analytical pieces have attempted to make sense of a film that has liberally used all forms of violence to captivate the audience.

While all reviews and opinions seem to have valid points, there is one review of Animal that you cannot miss — that of Ram Gopal Varma. In his distinctive style, marked by the liberal use of sexual metaphors, Varma praises Sandeep's genius in a detailed review.

ALSO READ: Amid Animal controversy, Shah Rukh Khan's old statement on treating women in films goes viral

RGV is among the handful of directors who played a vital role in elevating the global stature of the Indian film industry. And when a filmmaker like him makes his cinematic wisdom so accessible to all, it becomes imperative for cinephiles to pay attention.

Here are the key takeaways from Ram Gopal Varma's review of Animal:

1) Sandeep knows the pulse of the audience

After watching ANIMAL I realised that the difference between @imvangasandeep and other mass commercial directors is that THEY all believe that the audience are far below them , and HE believes that all the audience are exactly like him.

2) Art must provoke

Also Read: Animal review: Ranbir Kapoor is the 'mane' event, overpowering the screenplay that has bitten off more than it can chew

I loved what Film maker Adrian Lyne , who made such classics as Nine and half weeks , Fatal Attraction , Lolita etc , once said in an interview that a film should not be merely liked or disliked by the audience members , but it should make them violently disagree and argue about what the film stands for , which is what Sandeep Vanga achieved BIG TIME in ANIMAL.

3) Animal's cultural significance

There will be massive fights over the content and the character of Ranbir in ANIMAL long after its box office run is over and I truly believe it can also trigger a cultural overhaul due to the way Sandeep has ripped off the clothes of moral hypocrisy with his bare naked honesty.

4) Ranbir Kapoor's epic performance

From the trailers , I was secretly worried about Ranbir going a little over the top , but this is the first time I both as a film maker and just a viewer , was completely not sure whether Ranbir ‘s performance is making the character work or Sandeep’s character is making Ranbir’s performance work Not from the 1st film of india , Raja Harishchandra in 1913 till now in 2023 in the last 110 years was there more consistency and intensity in an actor’s portrayal of a character than what Ranbir did in ANIMAL Except for that one single scene where he asks that girl to lick his shoe , I felt his performance was superior to even of Leonardo de caprio in wolf of wall street More than him being physically naked in a particular scene , he was emotionally naked throughout the film in his performance which takes much more strength of mind than just being physically naked.

5) The few drawbacks

I personally din’t care neither about the plot of the family rivalry nor even the father son relationship , and that’s because I missed a scene where Anil kapoor talks very deeply to his wife about his son which could have given me his emotional point of view , but that again could have made me lose my focused perspective on Ranbir.

For me the one thing I disliked is the fight with the masked guys in the interval block which I know was loved by the majority , and neither did I like the Body double sequence nor the climax air strip fight which I felt were outside the tone of the film.

The only time I disliked Vijay’s character is when he asks the girl to lick his shoe and I think that’s because of the brilliant casting of that actress which evoked an instant empathy in me the moment I saw her and it only grew with every close up of hers.