Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Animal is clearly a clickbait but will its lifespan match its hype?

It’s hard to believe Sandeep when he asserts he ‘never thought’ the film would go viral, given his apparent focus on crafting moments tailored for virality. The story took a backseat in Animal, relegated to serving the extraordinary, sometimes outlandish, sequences meticulously planned by Sandeep.

For the most part of the film, we witness Ranbir’s unhinged, psychotic lead character, Ranvijay, going absolutely ballistic without any apparent reason. He brings a gun to college, proposes to a girl by complimenting her potential to carry healthy babies, vows to kill his brother-in-law due to dislike of his bootlicking nature, asks a girl to lick his boots, and walks naked in his garden to celebrate the victory of his stubbornness over his human body – you know the drill.

There is no method to his madness, and perhaps that’s precisely what the filmmaker intended. Some outrageous moments clubbed together in the guise of a film, seemingly tailored for 90-second Instagram reels, which have rapidly evolved into a primary source of entertainment for many. This aspect of Animal brought to mind Jake Gyllenhaal’s portrayal of a photojournalist in Nightcrawler. Just as Gyllenhaal’s character pursued real-life accidents and murder scenes to boost TV channel ratings, Sandeep crafted his own sensational moments in Animal.

Animal also appears to be a peculiar blend of Karan Johar and Anurag Kashyap worlds. For instance, while Ranvijay resides in a high-end, opulent society’s palatial bungalow, boasting a foreign education, he nonchalantly discusses his underwear shrinking in the presence of his servants and proudly displays the hickey on his lover’s neck to a bunch of people. These contrasting moments are so cringe-worthy and awkward that they scream attention.

It’s also intriguing to observe that at a time when Karan Johar is consciously aiming for political correctness in his films, case in point Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, Sandeep is sprinting towards the opposite extreme. His statement to Film Companion, “I will show you what violence is with my next film,” quickly went viral before the release of Animal. This indifferent attitude only fueled anticipation among the audience, making them eager to witness which end of the extreme Sandeep would hit with this film.

But if Sandeep aimed to create unforgettable sequences, he succeeded. Despite knowing everything about Animal, the film kept me engaged, barring Ranbir’s cringe moments with Rashmika Mandanna and Tripti Dimri’s characters. While not a fan of excessive bloodshed, the action sequences in the film, accompanied by Vanga’s curated music, proved to be interesting if not intriguing.

Two scenes stood out. First, where Ranvijay borrows Tiger shorts before mounting a ‘Made In India’ war machine, and the climactic confrontation between Bobby Deol’s Abrar and Ranbir’s Ranvijay. This intense fistfight, mirroring the rawness of the Animal kingdom with B Praak’s romantic track “Saari Duniya Jalaa Denge” playing in the background, took the cake for me. After being inundated with CGI-crafted action scenes repeatedly, it was refreshing to witness two archenemies engage in a real fight with their shirts off.

In the end, the success of Animal hinges on the question of whether a handful of creative moments can truly define its cinematic lifespan. While the film’s overall purpose may fade from the memory of many, the bait-like moments crafted by Sandeep could linger, marking a victory in an era where attention spans are reduced to seconds.