Vicky Kaushal says box office clash of Sam Bahadur and Ranbir Kapoor's Animal was a ‘test match’: It had the shock value

Both Meghna Gulzar's Sam Bahadur and Sandeep Reddy Vanga's Animal released in theatres on December 1.

Vicky Kaushal has shared his views on the box office clash that his film Sam Bahadur had with Ranbir Kapoor's Animal. Speaking with The Week magazine, Vicky shared that the team was aware of the clash and saw it as a ‘test match’, and added that everyone had faith in Sam Bahadur. (Also read: Vicky Kaushal reveals Katrina Kaif is ‘way more vegetarian' than him: My mother is happy whenever she is home)

Vicky Kaushal has reacted to the box office clash of Sam Bahadur and Animal.

What Vicky said

In the interview, Vicky said: “With Sam, we always knew it was a Test match; we knew it was not the quintessential masala film that Animal was―it had the shock value and one knew it would create waves at the box office. We knew we needed that much time, that word of mouth, for the film to resonate with the masses. Because if it would not click with people, it would not do well no matter when it released. People started talking about it more and more as the weeks went by. We saw that through January, Sam shows kept going on, and that gives me tremendous happiness.”

More details

The actor also talked about his preparation for the part. “My daily ritual for Sam used to be―go into the van, get ready and before coming on the set, I used to need anywhere between 15 to 30 minutes where I would play jazz and just look in the mirror to be convinced that this guy is Sam Manekshaw. Once you believe this, whatever you do is Sam,” he added.

Vicky played the titular role of Sam Manekshaw, who served as the Chief of the Army Staff during the 1971 Indo-Pakistani War, in Meghna Gulzar's Sam Bahadur. Sam Bahadur also starred Sanya Malhotra and Fatima Sana Shaikh and received critical acclaim upon release.

Meanwhile, Animal. directed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga, opened to a huge box office pull on the same day. It stars Ranbir Kapoor, Anil Kapoor, Rashmika Mandanna, Bobby Deol and Triptii Dimri. Although it received mixed reviews, the film became one of the highest grossers of 2023 and was a blockbuster at the box office in India and overseas.

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