Ranbir Kapoor never had doubts about Animal, showed Vijay Deverakonda kissing scenes to express excitement

Filmmaker Sandeep Reddy Vanga spoke about Ranbir Kapoor's reaction to Animal during a conversation with Nagarjuna and Ram Gopal Varma.

Filmmaker Sandeep Reddy Vanga has shared that Ranbir Kapoor never once doubted Animal, which drew sharp criticism after its release. In fact, actor Nagarjuna revealed that Ranbir was so excited about working with Vanga that he once pulled out Vijay Deverakonda’s kissing scenes from Arjun Reddy to express his enthusiasm for Animal.

Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Animal was released in 2023.

Ranbir was super excited about Animal

With the cult classic Shiva gearing up for its 4K Dolby Atmos re-release, filmmaker Sandeep Reddy Vanga joined Nagarjuna and Ram Gopal Varma for a conversation where they spoke about different phases of their career, including Vanga’s film Animal.

In the video, Ram Gopal Varma is seen asking Vanga, “When you have such different scenes in Animal, did the actors have a doubt”. To which, Vanga replied, "Ranbir never had a doubt. Ranbir said everything is so new."

At this moment, Nagarjuna joined the conversation and shared that Ranbir was super excited about Animal even before he began filming it. Talking about Ranbir’s excitement, Nagarjuna said, “I remember that time I was doing Brahmastra with him and he was only talking about Animal that he was going to start. At that time, he had not started Animal."

Nagarjuna shared that Ranbir showed him a still of a kissing scene from Arjun Reddy. "He was pulling out Arjun Reddy. He was not pulling out the Hindi version, but the Telugu version. He was showing some scenes. I remember one sequence where Vijay (Vijay Deverakonda) is kissing the girl. And he was showing and saying ‘this is so real’.... He was very, very excited to start that film", Nagarjuna said.

Meanwhile, last year during his appearance on Nikhil Kamath’s podcast People by WTF, Ranbir broke his silence on backlash for Animal.

“Social media played havoc. They needed something to talk about, so they really went to town claiming it was a misogynistic film. What happens is that the hard work that you put in… I know the director had made Kabir Singh, which also faced the same thing, the hard work gets diminished. Because it gets this tag, which isn’t true, the perception stayed with this film. So, the general public will speak very fondly about the film, but there are many people I meet, who tell me, ‘You shouldn’t have done this film, we are so disappointed in you’. And a lot of people from the film industry (said the same thing). I quietly apologise and say, ‘Sorry I won’t do it next time.’ I don’t really agree with them, but I am in that phase of my life I don’t argue with anyone. If you don’t like my work, I will say I am sorry I will try harder next time,” he said.

About Animal

After almost 2 years since its release, Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Animal continues to spark conversations among fans and industry insiders alike. Despite facing backlash with people saying it glorifies male toxicity, the Ranbir Kapoor-starrer emerged as a massive box-office blockbuster. The film was released in December 2023

The film centres on a strained father-son relationship, with Ranbir Kapoor portraying Rannvijay Singh, a man who sets out on a path of revenge following an assassination attempt on his father. It also features Bobby Deol, Rashmika Mandanna, Triptii Dimri, and Anil Kapoor in key roles. A sequel titled Animal Park is currently in development.