Ranbir Kapoor’s on-screen mother in Animal is only one year older than him, Charu Shankar says Sandeep Reddy Vanga told her she’s ‘too young’

Charu Shankar also revealed why she decided to do the film and what Sandeep Reddy Vanga told her about her character being a crucial part of the film.

By: Entertainment Desk

New Delhi | December 23, 2023 11:31 AM IST

3 min read

Charu Shankar with Ranbir Kapoor. (Charu Shankar/Instagram)

Filmmaker Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Animal is making waves at the box-office after an impressive haul of more than Rs 800 crores. The film, centered on a troubled father-son relationship, has sparked discussions with mixed to negative reviews, citing concerns about its portrayal of misogyny. Charu Shankar, who played Ranbir Kapoor’s mother in the movie, revealed that she and Ranbir are just a year apart and also opened up about Sandeep expressing surprise upon their first meeting.

In an interview with Bollywood Hungama, Charu said, “We (Her and Ranbir) are only one year apart; that is true. As an actor, why would I refuse? This was an opportunity which was a very exciting opportunity. I knew the cast; I knew what the film was, when Sandeep narrated the story. I thought it was very interesting, very different. And he told me from the word go, he said, ‘I want you to play a very crucial part in my film. I want you to establish very quickly in the film what the central conflict of the film is.'”

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It has often been seen in Indian cinema that female actors playing on-screen mothers to male actors aren’t usually much older than them. For instance, in the 2005 film Waqt, Shefali Shah played Akshay Kumar’s mother at 32, while he was 37. Laal Singh Chaddha faced criticism for casting 40-year-old Mona Singh as the mother of 57-year-old Aamir Khan.

When asked about her first interaction with Sandeep, the actor said, “I still remember I was wearing jeans and a kurta. And I’m sitting and chilling and I think we had arrived early, and Sandeep walks in and he crosses us, and he goes to his office. And then he calls in his AD and says, ‘Who’s that?’ So they’re like, ‘That’s Charu Shankar, you know, you’d asked for a meeting.’ ‘Okay, call her in.’ And as soon as I came in, he said, ‘Nice to meet you, thank you for coming all the way, but I have to tell you, you’re too young.'” The actor said that Sandeep then narrated the story.

Animal also stars Anil Kapoor, Bobby Deol and Rashmika Mandanna in pivotal roles. It was released on December 1.

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