Animal (2023) – Movie Info, Cast, Trailer & Where to Watch
Table of Contents
Quick Facts
Animal is a Hindi crime drama directed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga, starring Ranbir Kapoor, Anil Kapoor, Bobby Deol and Rashmika Mandanna. Released on 1 December 2023, it became the most polarising Hindi film of its year — called everything from a masterpiece to a menace, sometimes in the same review. What nobody disputed was its impact: Ranbir’s most ferocious performance, box office in overdrive, and a cultural conversation that raged for months.
The film grossed over ₹900 crore worldwide despite an Adults Only certificate and a 3-hour-21-minute runtime, becoming one of the highest-grossing Hindi films ever. It is now streaming on Netflix. Love it or hate it, Animal is impossible to ignore — Vanga operating at full intensity, unfiltered and technically audacious.
Plot
Ranvijay Singh grew up in the shadow of his father Balbir, a steel magnate who was always too busy building an empire to notice his son. The neglect curdled into obsession — Ranvijay’s entire identity became wrapped up in winning a father’s love that never came. Years later, he returns from the US hardened and volatile. When an assassination attempt leaves Balbir critically injured, something snaps.
Ranvijay launches a savage, obsessive hunt for those responsible, tearing through the criminal underworld with a single-mindedness that is terrifying to watch. His marriage to Geetanjali strains under the weight of his rage; his relationship with his father becomes even more twisted — violence as a love language, protection as possession. Standing in his way is Abrar, a mute, menacing antagonist whose confrontation with Ranvijay produces the film’s most talked-about action sequence.
The film builds to a blood-soaked climax that resolves nothing cleanly — and a post-credit scene promising the saga will continue. It is, at its core, about toxic masculinity and wounded love, though whether it critiques or celebrates those things became the subject of fierce national debate.
Performance
Ranbir Kapoor is astonishing. He plays Ranvijay as a live wire — charming one moment, terrifying the next — and commits completely to the character’s ugliness. It is a brave, vanity-free performance from a star who had nothing to prove and everything to lose; he reportedly called it his most physically and emotionally demanding role. Whatever you think of the film, his work here is undeniable — the rare star turn that is genuinely dangerous.
Anil Kapoor is excellent as the distant patriarch, bringing complexity to a character who could have been a caricature — you understand, if not forgive, the man. Bobby Deol’s career got a second life thanks to Abrar; his silent menace and that entry sequence became iconic overnight. Rashmika Mandanna holds her own in a difficult role, and her confrontation scene with Ranbir is one of the film’s best-acted moments.
Screenplay and Direction
Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s direction is technically brilliant and morally confrontational. The action choreography — particularly the interval fight and the climax — is world-class, staged with a visceral clarity that few Indian directors can match. His use of music, silence and sudden violence creates an atmosphere of constant unease; you never feel safe watching this film, which is precisely the point. You may object to what he is saying, but you cannot deny how powerfully he says it.
The screenplay’s weakness is its indulgence. At 201 minutes, the film mistakes shock for depth in places, and its provocations sometimes feel designed to offend rather than illuminate. Vanga is uninterested in nuance or redemption — this is a vision delivered at full volume, take it or leave it. Many left it; many more took it.
Music
The music was a massive phenomenon. “Arjan Vailly,” “Satranga,” “Pehle Bhi Main” — the album dominated charts for months, and the background score’s use of the haunting “Papa” theme is devastatingly effective. Vanga has always understood music as emotional weaponry, and here the songs do heavy lifting: the “Jamal Kudu” sequence alone revived Bobby Deol’s career and became a cultural moment. The sound design in the action scenes is punishing in the best way.
Visually, the film is dark and oppressive by design — all shadows, blood and steel — a world that reflects its protagonist’s inner state.
Themes
Animal is about the damage fathers do to sons — and what sons do with that damage. Ranvijay’s violence is framed as the grotesque flowering of a childhood spent begging for attention; the film suggests that emotional neglect can be as brutalising as any beating. It also explores how wealth insulates monsters: the Singhs can afford to be animals in ways ordinary men cannot. Whether the film critiques this world or luxuriates in it is the question that divided the country — and it is a legitimate, unresolved tension at the heart of the work.
Conclusion
Animal is a brutal, brilliant, deeply problematic film — a technical marvel powered by Ranbir Kapoor’s career-best performance. You will either admire its audacity or be repelled by it; either way, you will not forget it. It was the most discussed Hindi film of its year precisely because it refused to be comfortable. A word of caution: this is adult cinema with extreme violence and disturbing themes. Know what you are getting into — and then decide for yourself where you stand.
Watch the official trailer: