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Director Sandeep Reddy Vanga spoke about Bobby Deol’s character Abrar in his critically panned film Animal, and explained why he is a Muslim even though he belongs to the same family as Ranbir Kapoor’s Ranvijay, who is a Sikh. In an interview, he said that people often undergo conversions after having experienced setbacks, and that’s what Abrar did. It also gave him, Vanga, an excuse to design Abrar as a character who has multiple wives.
Speaking to Galatta Plus, Vanga said that vulnerable people are more likely to turn to religion and superstition, and that he has seen it happen in real life. In the film, Abrar is traumatised after the death of his grandfather, because of which he gies mute. Later, when his brother is killed, he goes on a warpath against Ranvijay. It is later revealed that they are related.
He said, “I’ve seen people, when they enter a zone of zero confidence, people will come and say to them, ‘Go to a church, or go to a baba, he’ll give some taweez, change your name…’ I’ve seen people changing their religion because so much has happened to them. At a low point, they feel like it’s a new birth, it’s a change of identity completely… We see a lot of people converting to Islam and Christianity; we never see anybody converting to Hinduism. So, I thought I’ll use this, because you can get multiple wives in Islam. I can have multiple cousins with different faces; the drama will be bigger. That’s the only reason. There was no intention to show a Muslim in a bad light…”
Much has been said about a scene in which Abrar violently belittles his wives, immediately after he is informed about his brother’s death. Asked about the marital rape scene in the film, Bobby said in an interview with The Quint, “I’m not trying to promote anything. Yes, it was required. How do you showcase a character in such a short span, show what this man is capable of, what kind of person he is? All these scenes were required.” Bobby also said that his mother, Prakash Kaur, couldn’t bear to watch Animal because of how his character was written. He told Pinkvilla, “My mom couldn’t handle my death scene. She was like, ‘Aisi film mat kiya kar tu, mujhse nahi dekha jaata (You shouldn’t do films like this, I can’t watch them).” I told her, ‘Look, I’m standing in front of you, I just played a part’. But she’s very happy… The amount of phone calls she’s getting, all her friends want to meet me. Something similar happened when Aashram released.”
Animal has grossed nearly Rs 850 crore worldwide since its release earlier this month. Also starring Rashmika Mandanna, Anil Kapoor and Triptii Dimri, Animal has emerged as the third-biggest Indian film of the year, behind Shah Rukh Khan’s Jawan and Pathaan.
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