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).

Vanga said that vulnerable people are more likely to turn to religion and superstition, and that he has seen it happen in real life. In the film, Abrar is traumatised after the death of his grandfather, because of which he gies mute. Later, when his brother is killed, he goes on a warpath against Ranvijay. It is later revealed that they are related.

"We see a lot of people converting to Islam and Christianity; we never see anybody converting to Hinduism. 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.

Responding to critics and fans, Sandeep Reddy Vanga also claimed that his filmography isn't misogynistic and Ranbir Kapoor commenting on Rashmika Mandanna's 'big pelvis' in the film was supposed to be a compliment.

The film, one of the most successful outings of 2023, was released on December 1 and raked in over Rs 800 crore at the domestic box office. Recently, production banner T-Series officially announced the sequel for the film titled Animal Park.

Apart from Ranbir Kapoor, Animal also features Anil Kapoor, Bobby Deol, Rashmika Mandanna, Triptii Dimri, Suresh Oberoi and Prem Chopra.

Despite its successful run in theatres, Animal has drawn criticism from a section of social media users for its misogynistic and graphically violent narrative.

It is produced by Bhushan Kumar and Krishan Kumar for T-Series, Murad Khetani for Cine1 Studios and Pranay Reddy Vanga for Bhadrakali Pictures.