Director Sandeep Reddy Vanga, who is preparing for the release of ‘Animal,’ reflected on the challenging journey of remaking ‘Arjun Reddy’ in Hindi as ‘Kabir Singh’. He expressed his reluctance towards doing any remakes in the future and disclosed the initial resistance to casting Shahid Kapoor in the lead role. The original ‘Arjun Reddy,’ featuring Vijay Deverakonda, proved to be a significant success, generating over Rs 50 crore despite being made on a budget of less than Rs 3 crore.
In an interview with iDream Media, the director revealed that after the blockbuster success of the film, he initially pitched an idea to Mahesh Babu, envisioning it as his next project. However, when the superstar chose another project, Vanga redirected his efforts towards remaking the film in Hindi, driven by the overflow of offers from Bollywood. Yet, he acknowledged the difficulty of remaking a widely-watched movie, describing the process as 'painful
‘I was continuously getting calls from Mumbai to do the remake. First, it was pitched to Ranveer Singh. I wanted to do it with him. But finally, he decided he will not do it, because it was too dark for him at that time,’ Vanga said, adding that he assumed that even the remake wouldn’t get off the ground, so he focused on another Telugu idea.
Vanga expressed the immense pressure he felt as a director, admitting that had the remake failed, it would have been a significant disappointment, especially considering the buzz surrounding ‘Arjun Reddy.’
When Ranveer Singh declined, Shahid Kapoor was approached for the role. However, Vanga revealed there were doubts among people in the industry regarding Shahid's box office potential, citing his past solo film performances that hadn't crossed the Rs 100 crore mark. Some questioned why Shahid was chosen, given that Telugu films typically achieved business figures within the Rs 55 crore to Rs 65 crore range. Despite the skepticism, Vanga stood firm in his belief in Shahid Kapoor's exceptional acting abilities.
‘Kabir Singh’ proved to be a tremendous success. According to Vanga, the film was produced at an approximate cost of Rs 36 crore and went on to amass a worldwide gross of Rs 380 crore. In the same interview, he confidently predicted that ‘Animal’ would surpass Rs 50 crore on its opening day from the Hindi version alone. Furthermore, Vanga anticipated that the global box office earnings within the initial three days could exceed Rs 300 crore.
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