Animal | |
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![]() Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | Sandeep Reddy Vanga |
Screenplay by |
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Story by | Sandeep Reddy Vanga |
Dialogues by | Saurabh Gupta |
Produced by |
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Starring | |
Cinematography | Amit Roy |
Edited by | Sandeep Reddy Vanga |
Music by |
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Production companies |
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Distributed by | see below |
Release date |
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Running time | 201 minutes [1] |
Country | India |
Language | Hindi |
Budget | ₹100 crore [2] [3] |
Box office | est.₹917.82 crore [4] |
Animal is a 2023 Indian Hindi-language action drama film [1] [5] co-written, directed and edited by Sandeep Reddy Vanga and produced by T-Series Films, Bhadrakali Pictures and Cine1 Studios. The film stars Ranbir Kapoor, Anil Kapoor, Bobby Deol, Rashmika Mandanna and Triptii Dimri. It explores the strained relationship between Ranvijay Singh and his father, Balbir Singh, an industrialist. After spending years abroad, Ranvijay returns home with plans for revenge against those who attempted to assassinate his father.
The film was officially announced in January 2021. Principal photography began in April 2022 and wrapped by April 2023, with cinematography by Amit Roy. The film's soundtrack album was composed by Pritam, JAM8, Vishal Mishra, Jaani, Manan Bhardwaj, Shreyas Puranik, Ashim Kemson and Harshavardhan Rameshwar. With a runtime of 201 minutes, Animal is one of the longest Indian films ever made. It was initially set for an August 2023 release but was postponed due to post-production work. [6]
Animal was theatrically released on 1 December 2023, in standard and IMAX formats to mixed reviews, with praise for its cast, performances, direction, screenwriting, soundtrack, cinematography, action sequences and technical aspects, but faced severe criticism for its themes and graphic violence. However, the film did extremely well commercially, both domestically and internationally. It grossed between ₹917.82 crore (US$110 million) worldwide, making it the third highest-grossing Indian film of 2023, the fourth highest-grossing Hindi film, the ninth highest-grossing Indian film, the highest-grossing A-rated Indian film, [7] and the highest-grossing film of Ranbir Kapoor's career. [8] [a]
At the 69th Filmfare Awards, the film received 19 nominations, including Best Film, and won a leading six awards, including Best Actor for Ranbir Kapoor. [10] At the 71st National Film Awards, the film won 3 awards: Special Mention, Best Background Music, and Best Sound Design. [11]
A sequel titled Animal Park, announced in the post-credits scene, is in early development.
Ranvijay "Vijay" Singh is deeply devoted to his wealthy tycoon father, Balbir Singh, who helms Swastik Steels, a generational steel empire established by Balbir's father, Rajdheer Dodamal Singh. However, Balbir is an extreme workaholic and allocates little attention to his family. When Vijay intimidates his sister Reet's bullies with his father's licensed AK-47, Balbir ousts him to a boarding school in the United States. He returns home after years on account of his father's sixtieth birthday and indulges in a heated exchange with Reet's husband, Varun, and calls himself illegitimate when Balbir takes Varun's side, prompting the former to expel him from the household. Vijay marries his childhood sweetheart, Gitanjali, and they move to the United States.
Eight years later, Vijay returns home with Gitanjali and their kids after Balbir falls prey to an assassination attempt at a golf club. He reconciles with his father and enlists the help of his second cousins living in their hometown. Vijay recruits Kailash Petkar, a body double who resembles Balbir, but Kailash is eventually killed by Asrar Haque, who is revealed to be involved in the earlier assassination attempt on Balbir. Discovering that Varun is involved with the perpetrators, Vijay publicly strangles him to death at a conference while Asrar, who is one of the audience members, watches on. Vijay and his cousins meet with Freddy, an arms dealer, to receive a machine gun manufactured on Vijay's designs at a hotel. As Asrar and his assailants pounce on the hotel, Vijay takes them down using the gun and eventually kills Asrar but is left severely wounded and hospitalized with a failed urinary system, a damaged sense of hearing, and an urgent need for heart transplantation. Vijay's relationship with Gitanjali deteriorates, and he ultimately receives a successful transplant. Meanwhile, in Scotland, Abrar Haque, Asrar's mute older brother, learns of Asrar's death during his third wedding.
Vijay is introduced to Zoya, the fiancée of his donor, and they pursue an extramarital affair. After a Rolls Royce gifted to her by Vijay explodes, Zoya confesses to Vijay that she was actually sent by Abrar to honey trap him and that Aziz, another younger brother of Abrar, underwent plastic surgery to look like Vijay and subsequently kill Vijay's family while impersonating him. Vijay discloses that he has been aware of her true purpose and reveals that he has played along to discover the mastermind's identity and caused the explosion himself; he then leaves her, asking her to go wherever she wants. Later, Rajdheer reveals that he had banished his younger brother, Shamsher Singh, from his family and business due to his immoral antics; his son, Azim, who had converted to Islam, came to ask for a share in the property but was refused by Balbir. A humiliated Shamsher immolated himself, rendering his grandson Abrar, the only witness, mute out of trauma. Vijay realizes that Abrar and his brothers have been trying to exact revenge.
Vijay confesses to being involved in an affair with Zoya to Gitanjali, who breaks down and asks for a divorce. The next day, Vijay and his cousins fly to Scotland in search of Abrar and reach his residence, where one of Abrar's three wives reveals that he will be leaving the country soon. Vijay manages to obstruct Abrar's flight from taking off, and they engage in a sustained fistfight on the runway. Vijay requests Abrar to put aside their differences and be like a family but is brushed off, prompting him to slit his throat. Vijay returns home and discovers that Balbir has been suffering from stage four acute lymphoblastic leukemia and has only a few months to live. Vijay confronts Balbir for being ignorant of his love for him, and Balbir seeks an apology from Vijay for his persistent insensitivity, while Gitanjali prepares to leave him with the kids. However, his son Abhay gets out of the car and embraces him as Gitanjali tearfully watches.
In a post-credits scene, Aziz Haque now resembles Vijay; Zoya is pregnant, but it is unclear who among Vijay and Aziz is the father of the child. Aziz violently butchers two of Vijay's cousins and proposes marriage to Abrar's third wife, who gave birth to twins.
In September 2019, it was reported that Sandeep Reddy Vanga would turn into a producer for his next directional venture in Bollywood. It was further reported that he would produce the venture along with Murad Khetani, Ashwin Varde, Bhushan Kumar and Kishan Kumar under Cine1 Studios and T-Series. [12] On 10 October, the company's and Vanga's new production banner Bhadrakali Pictures announced their collaboration for Vanga's next directional; marking their second collaboration after Kabir Singh (2019). [13] In early December, Vanga was reported to have approached Ranbir Kapoor to play the lead role in the film. ETimes reported that Kapoor was "keen" to work on the film, however, would finalize it only after hearing the final script, which was still progressing writing. [14]
In June 2020 however, it was reported that Vanga met Kapoor in January and narrated another script, which was reportedly titled Devil. [15] In late December, Anil Kapoor was reported to be part of the cast. [16] On 1 January 2021, the company's made an official public announcement of the venture, revealing also the title of the film and the crew. [17] In late April, Bobby Deol and Parineeti Chopra were cast, with the former playing lead antagonist role, while the latter plays lead actress role. [18]
In March 2022, it was reported that Rashmika Mandanna was to dance in an item number for the film. [19] The same month, Mandanna had replaced Chopra, as Vanga was not satisfied with the casting of Chopra during photoshoots. [20] On 2 April, Mandanna's commitments were officially announced. [21] Mandanna called it "a dream come true." [22] Vanga cited Kill Bill as the inspiration for the film's action sequences. [23] Similarly, Kapoor's rockstar look was inspired by Michael Jackson, as reported by hairstylist Aalim Hakim. [24] In 2025, during the pre-release event of Thandel , Vanga revealed that it was the film's lead actor Naga Chaitanya whose style of long hair and beard as well as real-life outfits inspired the protagonist's looks. [25] For the film's interval action sequence, Suresh Selvarajan spent 4 to 5 months designing a working model of a giant machine gun and creating 15,000 to 16,000 dummy bullets with the assistance of nearly 100 people. [26]
In July 2025, Vanga revealed that the first cut of the film was 225 minutes long, while the second and his satisfactory cut was 210 minutes long. A week before the release, he came under pressure to further trim the film by some 7 minutes, something he eventually regretted after repeatedly watching the film during its theatrical run. [27] [28]
Principal photography began in Manali in April 2022. [29] [30] The second schedule took place in Mumbai in May 2022, with filming was held at the Pataudi Palace in July 2022. [31] The next schedules were held in Delhi and Punjab. [32] [33] Filming resumed in England and Scotland in April with a schedule of 15–20 days. [34]
The film score is composed by Harshavardhan Rameshwar, who scored Reddy's previous films Arjun Reddy and its Hindi remake Kabir Singh . The songs featured in the film are composed by AR Rahman, Pritam, JAM8, Vishal Mishra, Jaani, Manan Bhardwaj, Shreyas Puranik, Ashim Kemson, Harshvardhan Rameshwar, Bhupinder Babbal. [35] Lyrics were written by Manoj Muntashir, Raj Shekhar, Siddharth-Garima, Jaani, Manan Bhardwaj, Ashim Kemson and Bhupinder Babbal.
The album features eight tracks with four singles—"Hua Main", [36] "Satranga", [37] "Papa Meri Jaan" [38] and "Arjan Vailly" [39] —were released before the audio launch. The soundtrack to Animal was released at a music launch and fan experience event held on 24 November 2023 at Mehboob Studio in Mumbai. [40] A deluxe edition album was released on 15 January 2024, featuring nine additional tracks. [41]
The teaser was released on 28 September 2023 coinciding with Kapoor's birthday. [42] Arijit Singh held a concert in Chandigarh where Ranbir Kapoor joined him to promote film with the song Satranga on 4 November 2023. [43] [44] During the semi-final of 2023 Cricket World Cup, Ranbir Kapoor attended the stadium to watch the match and for promotional activities of the film on 15 November 2023. [45] [46] The teaser was showcased on Burj Khalifa on 18 November 2023, [47] they also conducted film promotions at Marq Club and Dubai's Global Village on the same day in Dubai. [48] [49] [50] The trailer was released on 23 November 2023. [51] [52] [53] The cast appeared on the Unstoppable talk show, which premiered on Aha on 24 November 2023. [54] [55] They also appeared on Indian Idol . [56] [57] Before the pre-release event they conducted press conference tours in Hyderabad, Chennai, and Bengaluru. [58] [59] [60] The film held its pre-release event in Hyderabad on 27 November 2023 with Mahesh Babu and S. S. Rajamouli as the chief guests. [61] [62] [63]
Animal was initially set for an 11 August 2023 release, but was postponed due to post-production and dubbing work, as well as to avoid clashing with Jailer , Gadar 2 and Oh My God 2 . [64] It was theatrically released on 1 December 2023 in standard and IMAX formats in Hindi with dubbed versions in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada languages. [65] The film was released across 4000 screens in India, the screen count was impacted due to the clash with Sam Bahadur which was releasing on the same day. [66]
The film had planned to premiere in North America on 30 November 2023, a day before its release. [67] In the United States, it will be screened in 888 theaters, marking the highest number for a Hindi film, surpassing the screen count of Brahmāstra: Part One – Shiva (2022) and Jawan (2023). [68] [69]
Animal received an A (adults only) certificate from the Central Board of Film Certification, a day prior to its trailer release, for strong bloody violence, profanity and some sexuality. [70] It was classified 18 by the British Board of Film Classification for the same reason. [1]
AA Films acquired the theatrical rights of the film to distribute in North India and overseas. Sri Venkateswara Creations acquired the distribution rights for Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. E4 Entertainment and AP International acquired distribution rights for Tamil Nadu and Kerala. KVN Productions acquired distribution rights for Karnataka. Moksha Movies and Nirvana Cinemas acquired theatrical distribution rights for North America. [71]
The digital streaming rights of Animal were acquired by Netflix. [72] The film was premiered on Netflix from 26 January 2024. While Vanga initially stated that it would have an additional 8 minutes of footage, [73] [74] it was later announced that Netflix would stream the theatrical cut with no additional scenes. [75] An English dub, with actor Nakuul Mehta lending his voice to Ranbir Kapoor's character, and actress Samridhii Shukla lending her voice to Triptii Dimri's character; began streaming on 8 February 2024. [76]
On Netflix, Animal became one of the most watched films with 11.7 million viewership in first two weeks, surpassing films Salaar: Part 1 – Ceasefire and Dunki . [77] Animal ranked in the top 10 in six countries in the first week, 17 countries in the second, and continued to maintain the ranking in the following weeks in nine countries. [77]
Animal broke several box-office records for a Hindi film. [78] [79] [80] [81] The film had the fourth-biggest advance booking in Hindi cinema, and the third-highest for 2023 after Jawan and Pathaan . [82] On its opening day, the film collected a total India net of ₹63.8 crore (US$7.5 million) second highest after Jawan, worldwide gross of ₹116 crore (US$14 million) including overseas gross of US$5.5 million (₹46 crore). [83] [84] Eventually it became the highest non-holiday opening of all time for a Hindi film breaking the previous record held by Ranbir Kapoor's Brahmāstra: Part One – Shiva . [85] On its second day, netted over ₹67 crore and over ₹70 crore on third day in India for a three days total net collection of ₹201 crore and became one of the fastest Hindi film to achieve this after Jawan, [86] [87] making it third top opening weekend for Hindi films. [88] Worldwide it earned over ₹100 crore (US$12 million) for three consecutive days during its opening weekend, for a total worldwide weekend gross collection of ₹356 crore (US$42.1 million). [89] It had one of the highest Hindi net collection on its first Monday and Tuesday. [90] [91] In the first week it earned a total worldwide gross collection of ₹563 crore (US$67 million). [92] On its 8th day, the film surpassed the lifetime worldwide collection of Sanju (2018) and becomes the highest-grossing film of Kapoor's career. [93] On its 17th day, the film reached ₹500 crore net collection across all languages in India and on the same day the film crosses 3 crore footfalls in India. [94] [95] [96] On its 35th day, the film reached ₹500 crore net in Hindi and ₹550 crore across all languages in India, eventually it became the second-highest net grossing Hindi film in India. [97] Box Office India declared the film an All Time Blockbuster. [98]
In the United States, the film was released alongside Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé , Silent Night , Godzilla Minus One , and The Shift , and made $6.1 million from 888 theatres in its opening weekend, finishing in seventh place, behind the second weekend totals of Wish and Napoleon . [99] Worldwide, it emerged as the No. 1 film on its opening weekend with the total of $42.1 million including the $13.88 million of international markets, surpassing all the films globally. [100] In its first week the film earned over $19.2 million from international markets. [a]
The film has grossed over ₹662.33 crore (US$78 million) in India and ₹255.49 crore (US$30 million) in overseas for a worldwide gross collection ranging between ₹917.82 crore (US$110 million). [a]
Animal received mixed reviews from critics and audiences. [101] [102] On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 30% of 27 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.4/10.The website's consensus reads: "Overlong, overly violent, and thinly written, Animal goes wildly over the top to little avail." [103] Metacritic , which uses a weighted average , assigned the film a score of 33 out of 100, based on 4 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews. [104]
Awarding the film 4.5/5 stars, Bollywood Hungama praised "Ranbir Kapoor’s outstanding performance, clap-worthy massy scenes, and interval block." [105] Sukanya Verma of Rediff gave 4/5 stars and wrote "Animal is relentless as a euphoric medley of feral rage and dance of the dysfunctional. The twists go on well until end credits as more blood is splattered our way." [106] Ganesh Aaglave of Firstpost gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote, "Animal is an adrenaline experience which will have polarising views but you can't deny its entertaining quotient, breathtaking performances and storytelling." [107] Puja Awasthi of The Week gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote "Animal for all its blood and gore, is the story of a son’s aching desire for his father’s approval. Why even its ballads are less romantic, more revenge. And its female characters for all their luminosity, are just props". [108]
Monika Rawal Kukreja of Hindustan Times found it "an absolute massy, entertaining and extremely violent thriller which doesn't believe in conforming to the norms", while adding that the extreme violence might be off-putting for some. [109] Titas Chowdhury of News18 gave 3.5/5 stars, labelled it "dark, loud and garish but also unapologetic", and thought that Ranbir Kapoor "breathes life into this undesirable character with a lot of charisma and swag". [110] Abhimanyu Mathur of DNA India rated the film 3.5/5 and opined, "Animal takes everything that was problematic and increases it several notches. It is downright the most violent Hindi film I have seen, and also one of the most inherently toxic. The amazing part is that it is still very well made and entertaining, enhanced further by yet another great performance from Kapoor". [111]
Conversely, Renuka Vyavahare of The Times of India gave 2.5/5 stars and termed the film "all swag and no substance derailed family drama"; she was critical of "Vanga's take on women or violence" but praised Ranbir's "raw sex appeal and unmatched intensity". [112] India Today 's Anvita Singh gave 2/5 stars and wrote "Ranbir Kapoor is stellar in problematic, paper-thin film." [113] Nandini Ramnath of Scroll.in wrote "Ranbir is on fire, inhabiting to a frightening degree Vijay's delusional personal war. Reptile-eyed even at his smoldering best, Kapoor's career-best performance makes Animal tough to stomach, but equally difficult to ignore". [114]
In a negative review, Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express expressed disappointment that the performances of Ranbir and Anil Kapoor had been "wasted in this pointless, vile tale." [115] She later named it the worst film of 2023. [116] Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV gave 1.5/5 stars and wrote "The sickeningly violent father-son action drama rarely pauses for breath." [117] Sowmya Rajendran of The News Minute gave 1.5/5 stars and wrote: "Sandeep Reddy Vanga's film has the kind of writing you'll find in BDSM erotica like Fifty Shades of Grey , but presented with the same earnestness of 'pure love' that we saw in Arjun Reddy ." [118] [119] Pranati A S of Deccan Herald gave 1/5 stars and wrote "If you thought Arjun Reddy was toxic, then Animal will rattle your cage." [120]
Amid the controversial reception about alleged glorification of violence, the film was defended by some filmmakers such as Ram Gopal Varma, [121] Anurag Kashyap, [122] [123] [124] [125] Vikram Bhatt, [126] and Sanjay Gupta [127] as well as actresses Rashmika Mandanna, [128] Sargun Mehta, [129] Indira Krishnan, [130] and Bhumi Pednekar. [131] Mandanna and Krishnan were part of the film. Apart from this, actors Emraan Hashmi, Rajkummar Rao and Puneet Issar have also liked as well as defended the film. [132] [133] [134]
Conversely, the film was criticised by filmmaker Kiran Rao, [135] actresses Parvathy, [136] Konkona Sen Sharma [137] and Kangana Ranaut, [138] and lyricists Javed Akhtar [139] and Swanand Kirkire. [140] Furthermore, filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj had mixed reactions about the film. [141] Vanga responded to the criticism from the actors and filmmakers with more criticism. [142] Defending the film again, Mandanna also reiterated that it was just a film about a "messed-up character" and requested viewers to watch films without judging actors for the roles they play. [143]
The film's post-credits scene teases a sequel titled Animal Park, which was confirmed in December 2023 by Vanga. [149] Shortly after the film's release, Vanga said the sequel would be "darker" and "meaner" than its predecessor. [150] In an interview, Kapoor revealed Vanga had prepared and narrated a few scenes for the sequel to him. [151]
In 2024, Vanga revealed that the shooting will commence in 2026. [152] Saurabh Sachdeva, who played Abid in the film, similarly revealed that the sequel could begin filming in 2026 or 2027 due to both Vanga and Kapoor being busy with their respective projects, Spirit and Ramayana. [153] Kapoor later revealed the director's plans for a third film. [154]
This dark Hindi language action drama charts a man's relentless pursuit of twisted revenge at all costs.
Animal,' directed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga, of 'Kabir Singh' fame, is backed by a hefty budget of reportedly Rs 100 crore.
The film, which will see Ranbir Kapoor in an absolutely new avatar, is said to be made on a budget of ₹100 crore, and is set to release on December 1.
"Animal" is an action drama that revolves around a man's quest for vengeance after he realises that his father's life is in danger.
Ranbir Kapoor's latest film Animal had opened to mixed reviews from critics and moviegoers at the box office. While some appreciated Ranbir Kapoor's performance as Ranvijay Singh Balbir, others found the film problematic on multiple counts.
'Animal' received mixed reviews.
When I started thinking of the worst films of the year, Sandeep Reddy Vanga's Animal won hands down.
Responding to backlash from filmmaker Kiran Rao, Aamir Khan's ex-wife, Sandeep suggested in a recent interview that she should first criticise Aamir's films.
While many celebrities like Javed Akhtar and Parvathy Thiruvothu have come forth and criticised Animal, Bhumi Pednekar, in a recent interview, shared her opinion on the film.
Celebrities like Javed Akhtar, Konkona Sen Sharma also expressed their thoughts on the film and they didn't approve of the content of the film.
Actor Kangana Ranaut has slammed the film for showcasing violence and drug abuse.
Sandeep Reddy Vanga's Animal drew a lot of criticism from lyric writer Javed Akhtar when it released in 2023.
The lyricist and playback singer criticised the Sandeep Reddy Vanga film on X earlier this week.
He admitted to watching the movie but was unsure of his verdict about it. Bhardwaj, in a recent interview, said he 'hated' and 'enjoyed' the Ranbir Kapoor-led film.
Previously, Vanga had also attacked other actors and filmmakers for criticizing his film 'Animal.'
It's just that Sandeep Reddy Vanga spoke about a messed-up character, and that's about it. It seems to me that people have celebrated it because it made the numbers. So I didn't feel I had to be disturbed by the conversation. We made this film, it worked, people liked or disliked it—that's their personal thing. People should really go watch a film for what it is, and not judge an actor for playing these characters. It's acting for a reason.