In a recent interview Director Ram Gopal Varma said that South filmmakers are ‘shell shocked’ by Animal’s success, as he tried to explain why even Hindi movies are trying to emulate South Indian films these days. He also said that the South shouldn’t take credit for Animal, because the movie is its own beast that can’t be categorised as anything other than Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s unfiltered vision.

Director Ram Gopal Varma’s take on Animal movie success

Director Ram Gopal Varma said that Animal can’t be classified as a South Indian film, because director Sandeep Reddy Vanga would’ve found a way to make it even if he came from a northern state. When asked about the crisis that Hindi cinema, he said, “If you take Baahubali as the beginning of (this trend), KGF pretty much solidified it. But the point is, everyone in the South only makes those kind of films. But not all of them work… Directors from the South have always been doing that. I don’t know a single Hindi film director from today’s time who believed in this hero-masala, catering to the front-benchers, not having any logic, creating constant cinematic highs… That kind of template, no one had the conviction in Bombay.”

RGP says south directors are uneducated, that’s why they understand masses

He further explained, “Either they are from south Bombay, or they have been educated in America and don’t know who the masses are. Interetingly, if you look at it, most directors in the South are very uneducated people. It’s a very interesting thing. That could be a reason they’re so rooted and they know exactly what the man on the road feels. They’re not well-versed in English films, which is one of the reasons they understand the pulse of the masses more than the educated guys who grew up on Hollywood films.”

RGV said that Vanga shouldn’t be classified as a ‘South director’. “South is more shocked by Animal than Bollywood. Every director I know is shell-shocked because they’ve never seen a film like this,” he said.