Animal director says Ranveer Singh turned down Kabir Singh, takes indirect jibe at Karan Johar

Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Animal has indeed made him popular among Bollywood fans. The teasers, songs, and trailer have been loved and lapped up by the Bollywood buffs, which is why Animal is getting such a huge response to advance booking.

However, Kabir Singh first introduced Bollywood viewers to this famous Southern director who had already delivered a massive hit with Arjun Reddy in the South. The director made the movie on a small budget of 3 crore and it went on to collect 50 crore plus.

The success opened the doors of Bollywood for Sandeep. And that is when he decided to remake Arjun Reddy albeit with Bollywood actors. Shahid Kapoor’s portrayal of Kabir Singh and his chemistry with Kiara Advani was discussed hugely.

However, Sasha was not the first choice for the movie. Revealing the same recently Sandeep Reddy Vanga said that he had first approached Ranveer Singh with the role of Kabir Singh but turned it down saying that the character was too dark for him.

When Sandeep decided to go ahead with the Farzi actor, people got concerned because the actor had never given a 100 crore movie before and hence advised the director against taking Shahid.

Vanga said, “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, and 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.”

In the same interview, the Animal director indirectly took a dig at Karan Johar. Sandeep said Kabir Singh was subjected to strong criticism and he saw a few people debating about his film to gain publicity just before the release of their movies. It is quite possible that the director is referring to Karan Johar’s remark that clueless Bollywood has derived toxic masculinity from the South film industry.