Ranbir Kapoor’s Animal vs Shah Rukh Khan’s Baazigar: What makes us tick?

The differences? While it’s about avenging your Ma in Baazigar, it’s about seeking validation from Papa in Animal. However, that’s where it ends. Rakhee, known for her characters exacting bloody revenge in films through her progeny is the exact opposite of Anil Kapoor, who, playing an absentee father, just looks worriedly at his criminally inclined son, sending him out of the country at one point.

ALSO READ | Animal: Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s craft is just as infantile as his politics; what does he want us to talk about next?

When Sandeep Reddy Vanga showed Ranbir’s character strangling his brother-in-law on the floor in a long shot, I watched in awe, impressed by the actor’s brave choices. It took a re-viewing of Baazigar to remember that it had been done decades ago by SRK, when he first tipped the heroine (Shilpa Shetty) off the ledge and later strangled one guy with a telephone wire to cover up, followed by strangling another a few scenes later, packing the body in a suitcase and throwing it off a bridge for good measure.

Both performances are packed with star power. However, when I offer defence of Animal, it’s usually to say that the character is called out by all members of his family throughout the film. In Baazigar, there is no apparent need, as the camera plays to the gallery and for probably millions of SRK fans. In the final scenes, where Dalip Tahil (playing the “villain”) delivers the lethal blow, the tragedy is without doubt of SRK’s Vicky Malhotra aka Ajay Sharma meeting his end. The cop’s eyes brim with tears (C’mon, get a grip, you just caught the killer you were looking for), a sobbing Kajol stands solidly with Rakhee (your dad’s dying, the other guy killed your sister). However, ask anyone about Baazigar and chances are, you’ll hear “Great songs” or “Johnny Lever was really funny” and, of course, “Shah Rukh became a star after that film”.

Anil Kapoor and Ranbir Kapoor play father-son in Animal.

What has changed between then and now? Are we turning more judgemental or are we getting more circumspect, holding our films to higher standards of accountability? It’s a question that deserves some thinking. I don’t have an answer yet, but as Ram Gopal Varma commented recently on Animal’s negative impacton impressionable minds, “Did people go back to joint families after watching Hum Aapke Hain Kaun?” In the same vein, thankfully, Baazigar also did not set any dangerous precedent. As a country, it looks like we’ll be alright even in a post-Animal world!

Meanwhile, here is some inspired Reddit-style commentary from the main characters of both films:

Baazigar (Ajay Sharma aka Vicky Malhotra)

“I had a tough childhood after my father was cheated out of his business by someone who worked for him. In one night, my life fell apart… my father died, I lost my baby sister and my mother never recovered from the shock. However, I took my revenge by getting him to sign a power of attorney and taking over the business. Before that, I managed to throw his daughter off the roof (she was in love with me) and got engaged to her younger sister, who I feel has started having suspicions after two of her sister’s friends were found dead (strangled). I will meet a messy end, but I need to do this for Ma, who loves me unconditionally. Am I the bad guy?”

Shah Rukh Khan and Rakhee in a still from the Baazigar.

Rannvijay Singh aka ‘Balbir Singh ka beta’ aka Animal

“I left a comfortable life in the US because my father’s life was in danger. Now my father’s dead and my wife hates me. To be fair, I killed a few (hundreds) of bad guys, but they would’ve killed me and my family if I didn’t get to them first. However, according to Papa, I can say all I want that I did it for him, but I’m just a criminal. I also had an affair, but…but…but…she was a mole and I needed to find out the mastermind behind the threat to Papa. My wife says she can overlook the murders but not the infidelity. I just feel so misunderstood. Am I the bad guy?”

Films are more often than nor a mirror of the times we live in. A debate on where we stand as a collective consciousness is always welcome. Here’s to more such conversations!

(The writer is a journalist and Mindset Coach. She hosts the podcast Swishing Mindsets and tweets @anuvee.)