Animal director Sandeep Reddy Vanga says Ranveer Singh passed on Kabir Singh as it was too ‘dark’ for him; people were concerned about Shahid Kapoor’s casting: “None of his solo films had done Rs. 100 crore then”

Ranveer Singh passed on the role which then went to Shahid Kapoor but people were concerned as the latter had not given a Rs. 100 crore film, yet.

By Bollywood Hungama News Network -

November 29, 2023 - 11:00 AM IST

As Animal is inching towards to theatrical release, the anticipation for Ranbir Kapoor and director Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s movie is at an all-time high. The filmmaker’s first project was the Telugu movie Arjun Reddy starring Vijay Deverakonda which was merely made on Rs. 3 crore budget and went on to collect Rs. 50 crore at the box office. The filmmaker was flooded with offers from the Hindi film industry when he wanted to make his second film and had pitched to Mahesh Babu who had signed another film. So, when the offers from Bollywood came in, he decided to work on the Hindi remake with Kabir Singh starring Shahid Kapoor.

Animal director Sandeep Reddy Vanga says Ranveer Singh passed on Kabir Singh as it was too ‘dark’ for him; people were concerned about Shahid Kapoor’s casting: “None of his solo films had done Rs. 100 crore then”

In an interview with iDream Media, the director said that remaking a movie can be painful. He said, “I was continuously getting calls from Mumbai to do the remake. First, it was pitched to Ranveer Singh. I wanted to do it with him. But finally, he decided he would not do it, because it was too dark for him at that time.” Ranveer Singh passed on the role which then went to Shahid Kapoor but people were concerned as the latter had not given a Rs. 100 crore film, yet.

He said that if the remake didn’t work, it would have been a big shame. Vanga said, “All industry producers, distributors, everybody saw Arjun Reddy.”

He added, “Shahid’s track record was a concern; none of his solo films had done Rs. 100 crore then, his highest was Rs. 65 crore. They used to say Rs. 55 crore, Rs. 65 crore is the kind of business Telugu movies do. ‘Why are you doing it with this guy? If it was Ranveer, the box office would be higher’. But I was always sure about Shahid, he’s a fantastic actor.”

Bhushan Kumar and Krishan Kumar’s T-Series, Murad Khetani’s Cine1 Studios and Pranay Reddy Vanga’s Bhadrakali Pictures have backed Animal. The film is releasing on 1st December 2023.