Ranbir Kapoor’s Animal and Shahid Kapoor’s Kabir Singh were both massive box office hits, but fans almost got to see an unexpected crossover between the two films. Director Sandeep Reddy Vanga recently revealed that he initially considered bringing Shahid Kapoor’s Kabir Singh into Animal as a cameo but eventually decided against it, fearing it might not feel realistic.
In a conversation with Komal Nahta for Game Changers, Vanga was asked if he had ever thought about a sequence where Ranbir Kapoor’s character in Animal is taken to a hospital, and Shahid Kapoor’s Kabir Singh appears as the doctor.
The filmmaker admitted that the thought had crossed his mind during the Delhi schedule of Animal, and he even shared the idea with his team. “Everyone in my crew said I should do it. They thought it was a great idea and would bring in higher collections,” Vanga recalled.
However, he ultimately decided to drop the plan. “But mujhe laga kahin cameo ki desperacy me nahi jaana (I didn’t want the cameo to look desperate),” he explained, adding that while he was convinced for about two days, he later realized it wouldn’t fit naturally into the film.
The director elaborated that the scene in question was meant to be an intense moment, where the doctor informs Ranbir’s character about his organ failures. “Unke beech me agar Kabir aayega toh bahut light hoga (If Kabir comes there, then it will feel too light),” he said.
Vanga emphasized that including a well-known ‘filmy’ character like Kabir Singh in such a serious sequence would take away from the realism of Animal. His goal was to immerse the audience in the film’s world rather than disrupt it with a cameo.
During the interview, Vanga was also asked whether he ever considered casting Shahid Kapoor in the lead role of Animal. The director firmly denied it, stating that Ranbir Kapoor was always his first and only choice for the emotionally driven story. “It felt organic. I knew he was the right choice,” he concluded.
