This exertion forces his mind to perish and merge with his soul and becoming one with it
Animal has a weird first scene; it starts with an aged Ranvijay telling the parable of the monkey who eve-teases a princess and mimics his way into his castration. Prima facie this appears to be an absurd way of starting a film, but upon deeper contemplation, I am convinced that this is a warning from Sandeep Reddy Vanga. However, I need to find out to whom this warning is addressed.
Is it addressed to the audience who would superficially mimic how Ranvijay is in the film (constantly smoking, drinking, and copying catchy one-liners) and will try to play similar antics in their social lives, or is it a more profound warning from the director to the audience which understands Ranvijay struggle for salvation and his willingness to exert himself beyond any limit for his liberations and the liberation of others?
If it's the first one, the director warns the audience not to copy Ranvijay as they may embarrass themselves. Still, if it is the latter, then the minister is a symbol for the director, and the fake sword represents the fact that he's only able to exert such will for salvation through movies and warns against practising it in real life as it might be too dangerous. Practitioners might harm themselves or make themselves go crazy. The last scene of the film also dares the audience to ask Ranvijay whether they are willing to castrate themselves or not.
The struggle for salvation mentioned previously needs to be appropriately explained and will be the main focus of this essay. This essay will illustrate that the whole movie is mainly about this struggle.
Understanding the Salvation and Sainthood Conce
Balbir is like God (not a God but God as almighty Brahman or monotheistic god) to Ranvijay. In his mind, the imagery of his father resembles absolute perfection and might human flesh is capable of holding. No one is more perfect than his father, and no one more deserving of worship. However, the side effect of such idolisation is that when one sees such perfection in the flesh of another human, one is bound to not see such perfection in oneself and will then feel a sense of inadequacy, shame, disappointment, and frustration.
This feeling of inadequacy creates a desire to worship this perfect imagery created in the mind, and the feelings of frustration and disappointment leave a deep thirst to make our self-image stand up right next to this perfect image that we have created in our head and to feel at least some equality to it.
In the film, Ranvijay feels the need to unite and become somewhat equal or capable of making honest eye contact with the perfect image of Balbir that he has created.
Unfortunately, Ranvijay knows that he can't become equal to his father; hence, he subconsciously decides to take up debt for his father and as much pain as possible for his father so that, in some way, he can redeem himself for his lack of perfection in comparison to his father which would enable him in some way stand eye to eye with his father. Ranvijay taking up this debt for his father would cancel the debt he owes due to his imperfections and falling short of the perfect god image of his father that he has in his head. The taking up this debt and its cross-cancellation would lead to Ranvijay attaining salvation/mukti from this deep-rooted feeling that he can never be as good as his father. He may still believe the same thing, but it won't have the same psychological effect.
Ranvijay thinks that he owes this debt due to the inherent greatness of his father but also feels that the entire country should owe a similar debt to his father, especially other members of his family also a similar kind of debt.. Hence, he feels the need to talk down to his siblings as he feels they don't realise or acknowledge his father's inherent greatness and godliness. We know that Ranvijay feels the entire country also owes his father a lot of debt because, in the film, Ranvijay tells his younger sister Roop to hang out with middle-class people so that she realises what their father has done for their country. We also know this from the scene where Ranvijay gives a speech at the Swastic factory; it shows that everyone in the Swastic conglomerate owes a lot of debt to Balbir as all the employees were too guilt-ridden and overcome with emotional indebtedness to work and can only go back to work when they are told that their debt will be taken care of by Ranvijay.
In the earlier part of the film, Ranvijay has not paid up the debt that he owes to his father; hence, he is in constant rage and always angry as it is very difficult for him to live in this inequality, inferiority and burden. He is always angry and has a desperate rage within him, always trying to look after things his father should have dealt with like Roop getting bullied and the Cochin oil deal, which Varun messed up. He is so desperate to take up debt for his father that he often messes it up in anger and frustration, making him even more distant from him. However, we see a sense of calm in him when he goes to see his father in the hospital as this might be the time he realises that he can take up enough debt for his father to cancel the debt he owes; hence, there's a sense of calm in his mind. This is even acknowledged in the film as Balbir tells him after the Zoya affair scene that when Ranvijay returned, he came back with a sense of force and clarity. I think this calm was there because Ranvijay knew that this was finally an opportunity to pay his debt. Ranvijay knows he will be able to do this by bringing the killers of his father to justice at any cost. Hence, he finds an army of 11 apostles wholly dedicated to the Cause of his father, who also very conveniently kills the 12th apostle Varun, who represents Judas, the one who betrayed Jesus as Varun became a false devotee to Balbir causing Balbir's Assassination attempted.
Why revenge?
An interesting question would be why Ranvijay would not use traditional means to pay up his debt, such as working at Swastic and expanding the family business. Why does he only show up to pay the debt when there's an attempted assassination on his father. The answer is that he can only offer his best to God, so it's not that he won’t be a good businessman or is not capable of running or working at Swastic. The answer is that he doesn’t have the temperament to work with his father. Ranvijay, deep inside him, has the mental nerves of a feudal warlord, and this temperament is reflected in everything he does for his father, as he can only give his best to anything when he does it with the temperament of a feudal warlord. We can see the scene where he fights with Varun over the Cochin oil deal, insults everyone, and gets kicked out of his family home. We can also see this when he handles Roop’s bullying. He handles it in the exact way that a feudal warlord would. His father’s temperament is so different from his that despite Ranvijay’s love for him, he can't stay in the same house as his father. However, there comes a time in Balbir’s life when only a person with Ranvijay’s temperament could be of any use to him and is most needed. That time is when there's an attempted assassination on Balbir, and there’s no one to save him.
It is possible that this is because of this temperament Ranvijay likes Balbir so much. It is possible that deep down, he knows his father is a very good man who funds colleges and churches across the country.
Balbir is someone who made one of the biggest conglomerates in the world, employs God knows how many people, and has a critical role in the development of infrastructure in the country. The film also shows that he is an amazing employer and cares deeply about people who work at Swastik, possibly even more than he cares about his family. We know this because of the cheer on the faces of Swastic employees when they hear that Balbir is going to slit the throat of the shooters of his shooters. When Ranvijay sees himself compared to his father, it's possible that he can only see himself as an animal, a creature of flesh thirsty for blood. Hence, he needs to make up for his own shortcomings. It is possible that Sandeep Reddy Vanga took inspiration for the Balbir character from an actual Indian conglomerate that operates in the automotive, steel, software, and many other industries. A good reason to believe so is that this conglomerate is also known or at least markets itself as one treating its employees well and contributing to nation-building.
How Ranvijay attained Salvation and Sainthood
Ranvijay was supposed to attain Mukti/Salvation when he would have avenged the attempted assassination of his father. However, as fate often has it, salvation happens not when one ought to get it but when one exerts oneself to the point of near death, and the opportunity for such an exertion comes when we least expect it. In the Hotel fight scene, Ranvijay exerts himself beyond his death and any capacity his flesh can hold. The sheer destructive force with which he fights in the hotel is beyond all medical, mental and physical limitations. This exertion forces his mind to perish and merge with his soul and becoming one with it. This exertion beyond all limits, the sheer self-destruction and almost no hesitation in destroying himself completely free Ranvijay’s of his debts. He has exerted himself so much beyond his capacity and what he’s capable of that he now owes no personal debts to his father.
When we see Ranvijay after his recovery from the Coma, we see a man capable of being relaxed and making jokes. He talks eye-to-eye with his father in a relaxed manner as if they were somewhat equal. It is possible that this battle also freed him of his warlord tendencies or destroyed them to a large extent. Though the deep rage may have calmed down, Ranvijay cannot relax and enjoy this change within him because the threat to his father is still looming, and he still has things to cover, and he won't have time to enjoy this newly found state of relaxation. His terrible illness and his wife’s and father’s worry about his health and their pain would also play a big role in why he cannot experience this state more freely. Another reason why he can’t fully be in this situation is because of the dynamics of his relationship. Ironically, it is the past bonds and responsibilities that tie a free man. It is also because of the image that he has to maintain in front of his wife that he can't enjoy this new state; he events admits it when his wife throws away his laptop, saying one has to maintain a grip in marriage and expresses his frustration over the looming threat and his health issues when he threatens his wife with violence after she threw his laptop.
However, things change when he has a heart transplant, and Zoya comes into his life as now he doesn’t have the health issues and has an excuse to be away from his family. Hence, now he can enjoy this new state fully, and this is even acknowledged in the film, with his brother saying that they’ve not seen this colour before, and Ranvijay tells his grandfather that he is seeing a lot of colours which kind of sounds like a psychedelic experience resembling enlightenment or samadhi.
Zoya is also needed so that he can use their intimacy and sex to numb his existing pains and anxieties; this is even acknowledged in the lyrics, which say that her touch is like applying ointment to wounds.
It's possible that Ranvijay comes out of this stage when the Bomb blast happens oand when Ranvijay comes out although he still maintains the liberation but realises the looming threat and also realises that he had promised to pay the debt of other people in Swastic who were affected by Balbirs attempted assassination.
Hence, when Ranvijay finally kills Abrar, he becomes a saint as he has not only paid up his debt but also the debt of other people and has become equal, if not better, than Balbir. However, Ranvijay loves Balbir so much that he will give up this salvation and sainthood for his father. This is shown in the film when he hands over the knife with which he killed Arbraz to Balbir.