Filmmaker Sandeep Reddy Vanga recently revealed that he decided against Shahid Kapoor’s Kabir Singh cameo in Ranbir Kapoor’s Animal (2023) because he did not want “cameo desperation” to supersede the realism of the scene. He made these remarks during a conversation with film trade analyst Komal Nahta on Game Changers podcast.
Vanga recalled that the idea first came to him during the Delhi schedule of Animal. He had envisioned Kabir Singh as an aggressive doctor leading the team treating Ranbir’s character Ranvijay, after he sustains an injury. However, the filmmaker eventually decided against it as he did not wish to undermine the intensity of the situation.
“When I discussed it, everyone on set said it was an amazing idea and could bring in an extra 100 crores. In Delhi, I thought, let’s get Kabir Singh as one of the chief doctors — someone aggressive enough to handle a case like this. But the scene was too serious. Doctors are saying his heart is gone, lungs are gone, kidney is gone. If Kabir enters at that moment, it undermines the suffering,” Vanga said.
Released theatrically on December 1, 2023, Animal revolves around Ranvijay (Ranbir), the son of a wealthy businessman, who is determined to go to any lengths to earn his father’s (Anil Kapoor) love and respect. Also starring Bobby Deol, Rashmika Mandanna and Triptii Dimri, the high-octane action drama grossed over Rs 900 crore worldwide.
Kabir Singh, on the other hand, stars Shahid in the titular role. He plays a doctor who spirals into self-destruction when his girlfriend Preeti (Kiara Advani) marries someone else. Earning over Rs 379 crore, it became the second highest-grossing Bollywood film of 2019.
Vanga also called his 2017 Telugu film Arjun Reddy the “game-changing moment” of his career. The film — starring Vijay Deverakonda, Shalini Pandey, Rahul Ramakrishna, Jia Sharma, Sanjay Swaroop, Gopinath Bhat and Kamal Kamaraju — was remade in Hindi as Kabir Singh.
“When the teaser got released on February 14, 2017, it was a game-changing time for me and Vijay. So, at 7 o’clock we release our teaser, and two hours later my phone is jammed with messages. That day we felt the film is going somewhere,” the 43-year-old director shared.
Vanga also assured his fans that Spirit, his upcoming film with Telugu superstar Prabhas, will be an “engaging, interesting and intriguing” watch.