AI reimagines Animal with Mahesh Babu instead of Ranbir Kapoor in deepfake video, fans say ‘but he can’t…’

Sandeep Reddy Vanga is coming back to the theatres with his new action thriller Animal. The film, Vanga’s second in Hindi cinema, stars Ranbir Kapoor as the titular anti-hero. However, there were reports that claimed that the director’s first choice for the role was Telugu superstar Mahesh Babu, who rejected the role. Now, a new deepfake video has edited Mahesh into the film’s trailer giving a glimpse of what the film would have looked like with him as the star.

The new video, shared on Instagram by an Instagram account called Roaster Bidda uses artificial intelligence (AI) to edit Mahesh Babu as the film’s protagonist. Additionally, it also changes the character’s father from Anil Kapoor to Prakash Raj and the antagonist from Bobby Deol to Sonu Sood. The deepfake video generated quite a lot of buzz, getting 40,000 likes in just two days.

However, the reactions to Mahesh taking on Ranbir’s role were mixed. One fan wrote, “But he can’t grow that beard.” Another said, “Yash would be a better fit for this.” Many others, however, said that Mahesh had acted well in the past and he could ace this role too. There was a lot of criticism of the editing too, which many complained was very shabby.

Recently, Sandeep Reddy Vanga denied the reports that Mahesh Babu had rejected Animal. He said he had narrated another script to the actor for a different project, which he had passed. But it wasn’t Animal as had been reported. Mahesh Babu recently attended the grand pre-release event of Animal in Hyderabad along with Baahubali director SS Rajamouli.

Animal, which also stars Rashmika Mandanna, is set to release in Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu on December 1. Based on the advance booking reports, it is set to take a bumper opening, possibly the biggest of Ranbir’s career.