Sandeep Reddy Vanga explains why Bobby Deol’s character in Animal is Muslim: ‘We see people convert to…’

Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s film Animal has been grabbing headlines since the day of its release. Recently, the filmmaker opened up on why Bobby Deol’s character in the film is a Muslim, despite him belonging to the same family as Ranbir Kapoor who is a sikh in the movie.

In a conversation with Galatta Plus, Sandeep Reddy Vanga explained why Bobby Deol’s character Abrar is a Muslim and 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, change your name…’ I’ve seen people changing their religion because so much has happened to them. " 

He added, "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. So, I thought I’d 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…" 

Bobby Deol stole the show with his performance as the antagonist in the film even without any dialogue. The actor received much praise from the audience, however, one of the scenes in the movie did irk the netizens when he forced himself on his wife. Taking about the same the actor said in an interview, "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." 

Helmed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga, Animal stars Ranbir Kapoor, Bobby Deol, Rashmika Mandanna, and Anil Kapoor along with others in key roles. The film is a revenge drama that received a thunderous response from the audience and has collected over Rs 800 crore in just 21 days and still continues to roar at the box office