No reprieve because Papa didn’t preach

Parbina Rashid

It started with three words — hype, hype, hype. So much of it that a multiplex in a satellite town of Chandigarh saw an almost full house for an early morning show. Never have I ever had such an august company in a theatre since I started my tryst with First Day First Show.

Then came the trailer, one that promised violence, violence, violence. Yes, there are scenes in ‘Animal’ which can put ISIS’ beheading videos to shame. But does the final product spell out entertainment, entertainment, entertainment? Not really. It’s more of disappointment, disappointment, disappointment!

Sandeep Reddy Vanga creates a man’s world — boys with their bazookas and their PJs. The core issue is the troubled relationship between a father and son. Papa Balbir (Anil Kapoor), who is never there for his family and obsessive son Vijay (Ranbir Kapoor), who can kill and get killed to win his father’s affection.

Ideally, the story should have been set in a psychiatric ward, but here we are dragged into a family feud. A feud that starts from a steel factory and gets dragged on for three generations.

Well, to make the theme a little more inclusive, the writer makes one brother convert to Islam! The two rival families may be separated by religion and continents, but violence is an ingrained trait, specially in Gen 3.

The first half is all about Vijay and his madness. As a school student, he walks into his elder sister’s college and sprays bullets in her classroom. Reason? To find the guys who tormented her. He does it because his father has no time for the family. In fact, whatever he does in these three-hour-21 minutes, he does it for Papa or because of Papa. The point could have made in half the time. But brevity is not a strong point of Sandeep Reddy Vanga.

In fact, he likes everything over-the-top. Vijay, after a spat with his father and brother-in-law, packs off to America with his wife Gitanjali, but comes back when an assassination attempt is made on his father. He goes all guns blazing after his enemy.

Picture this. Vijay and his security squad, which comprises Punjabi gabrus, his cousins from Punjab, are attacked in their hotel. Squad after squad of attackers. Our hero, in his white dhoti and kurta, goes on a killing spree with an axe while his cousins actually line up and sing a Punjabi number to cheer him up. Just looking like a wow? The idea did cross my mind.

Then there is a gigantic armoured bike, with arms so fantastic that it’s comical. It can flatten concrete structures, hail bullets and the best part is, it’s ‘Made in India’. This kinetic killer machine would make James Bond’s gadget-laden car look like a toy.

After braving Vijay’s killings, a semi-toxic love story, a coma and a heart transplant, we are thrust into Abrar’s (Bobby Deol) lap post-interval. We meet him as he is having his third nikah. As the bride comes to the groom, she is told by his brother that Abrar is speech-impaired. Next we get to know from his wife that the girl is pregnant, which she got to know a day before and hence the hasty nikah. How naïve! Or, did she think his passion for her made him go speechless? Talking of details, there is a sequence where Vijay requires a heart transplant. It comes as fleeting information on screen and before we can read the sentence, Vijay is back on his feet — doing what he does the best. Kill people.

If Anil Kapoor as a distant parent is meant to earn our scorn and Ranbir Kapoor as a love-deprived son our sympathy, they both fail. The core issue, the father-son discord, is reduced to just confrontations without emotional depth. There are women characters as well. His mother (Charu Shankar) doesn’t count because her son wants only father’s love. And there is his love interest-turned-wife Gitanjali (Rashmika Mandanna) and his fling-cum-foe Zoya (Tripti Dimri) in a brief role. But they are put there to endure his crass behaviour and make the animal look wilder.

The toxic masculinity is so strong that their presence barely registers. Or, is it that our mind, having witnessed all those limbs flying, heads rolling and blood oozing, is too numb to feel much, except Ranbir Kapoor’s raw and intense sex appeal?