Sandeep Reddy Vanga reveals why he made Bobby Deol’s character a Muslim: ‘Drama will be bigger’

Sandeep Reddy Vanga, in a new interview with Galatta Plus, revealed why the antagonist of his new film Animal, Abrar (Bobby Deol), is a Muslim, even though he belongs to a family of Sikhs. In the film, Abrar is the cousin of the protagonist, Rannvijay Singh (played by Ranbir Kapoor).

On why Abrar is a Muslim

Sandeep explained that he wanted Bobby’s character to convert because of the personal trauma in his backstory. He said, “I’ve seen people when they enter a zone of zero confidence, people will come and say to them, ‘Go to a church, or go to a baba, he’ll give some taweez (pendant), change your name…’ I’ve seen people changing their religion because so much has happened to them. At a low point, they feel like it’s a new birth, it’s a change of identity completely… We see a lot of people converting to Islam and Christianity; we never see anybody converting to Hinduism.”

Sandeep said that the idea allowed him to portray Abrar as someone who has multiple wives and can have multiple children. “So, I thought I’ll use this, because you can get multiple wives in Islam. I can have multiple cousins with different faces; the drama will be bigger. That’s the only reason. There was no intention to show a Muslim in a bad light,” he said.

In Animal, Abrar (Bobby Deol) goes mute after the traumatising death of his father. He goes on a war against Ranvijay after his brother is killed. Later in the film, it is revealed that they belong to the same family.

In a scene from the film, Abrar is seen taking his frustration out on his wives after he gets to know about his brother’s death. He also goes on to force himself on his new wife. The marital rape scene has invited criticism from certain quarters.
Bobby Deol on his character and marital rape scene

Talking about it, Bobby had said previously to The Quint, “I’m not trying to promote anything. Yes, it was required. How do you showcase a character in such a short span, show what this man is capable of, what kind of person he is? All these scenes were required.” He also said that his mother Prakash Kaur couldn’t bear to watch the film.

Animal

Animal is among the highest grossers of this year. It stars Ranbir Kapoor and Bobby alongside Anil Kapoor, Rashmika Mandanna and Triptii Dimri. The film is set against the backdrop of a strained relationship between a son and his father.