Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s controversial film Animal, despite facing criticism for its violence and alleged depiction of toxicity and misogyny, emerged as one of the most successful releases of 2023. Starring Ranbir Kapoor, the film grossed over Rs 662.33 crore in India and Rs 255.49 crore internationally, totalling a worldwide gross of Rs 917.82 crore. Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma has praised the film and defended Reddy Vanga amidst the backlash, noting that the director succeeded in creating a high-grossing film without a massive budget or extensive VFX.
“Different kinds of audiences will like different kinds of films. I can’t believe that the same kind of audience will like both Gadar 2 and Animal. Having said that, one can like a certain dish and others can like something else. It is not, ‘I only eat this kind of food,'” Varma told Galatta Plus.
He also discussed how contemporary stars are pressured to take on high-budget projects with significant production costs. “They have to. They have a competition amongst them and every big star wants to expand his fanbase and market so that he can make bigger and bigger films. That’s technically what big stars think and that kind of thing can only come from very heavy VFX and huge production and design costs,” he explained.
Ranbir Kapoor’s Animal was a massive blockbuster (Photo: T-Series)
Ram Gopal Varma praised Sandeep Reddy Vanga for not following the typical formula, noting that Animal was produced on a relatively modest scale. “Sandeep Reddy Vanga proved them wrong because Animal was the least expensive film; however, if you look at Ranbir Kapoor in Brahmastra or Shamshera, Animal was the cheapest film in terms of production. He is one of the biggest names, and the film did better than the so-called big production value films. So there are no hard and fast rules,” he emphasised.
When asked if the success of Animal would inspire other filmmakers to adopt a similar approach, Varma was skeptical. “But because Animal happened, will other films made faster and with lesser expenses still earn as much money? That decision… I mean, so many films have been made with big production value, and Animal comes and surprises us. For filmmakers to make a film like Animal and think back, it is going to take some time. Aamir Khan cracked this by doing smaller films and big films more than 25 years back. I don’t see a single person doing that now,” he expressed.
Ranbir Kapoor starred in Brahmastra.
Earlier, Ram Gopal Varma used his X (formerly Twitter) handle to share ‘five takeaways for the people of India from Animal.’ He began by tweeting, “1. Indians are not the same Indians that the earlier Indians used to be. 2. If films are believed to be an art form and reflect culture, Animal has redefined culture and destroyed what was earlier called art.”
Varma also commented on the film’s box office success, which crossed Rs 600 crore worldwide in just eight days. He asserted that the film’s success is evidence that “animals are hidden in all of us,” and that it reflects a widespread admiration for Sandeep Reddy Vanga, “a not-to-be-loved and respected director”.
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RGV further wrote, “3. Every Indian is now exposed to each other Indian in terms of what kind of ANIMALS are hidden in all of us. 4. The mega box office proves that all Indians now love and respect a not-to-be-loved and respected director (Sandeep Reddy Vanga). 5. All Indians now realize that all Indians have grown up (folded hands emojis).”
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