The box office witnessed a massive clash on December 1, 2023, between two major Bollywood films: Vicky Kaushal's Sam Bahadur and Ranbir Kapoor's Animal. The box office performance of both movies was strong, and Vicky won numerous accolades for her portrayal of Sam Manekshaw, the first Field Marshal of India. The actor recently reflected on the film’s success and its confrontation with Animal, directed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga.

Vicky Kaushal on Sam Bahadur vs Animal clash

In a conversation with The Week magazine, Vicky reflected on Sam Bahadur’s box office clash with Animal. The actor said, “With Sam, we always knew it was a Test match. We knew it was not the quintessential masala film that Animal was―it had the shock value and one knew it would create waves at the box office. We knew we needed that much time, that word of mouth, for the film to resonate with the masses. Because if it would not click with people, it would not do well no matter when it released."

Vicky added that he saw a gradual but noticeable increase in the number of conversations about the movie in the weeks that followed its release. He was thrilled to find that the film was still being exhibited in January, indicating that people were still engaged and interested in watching his work. He stated, “People started talking about it more and more as the weeks went by. We saw that through January, Sam's shows kept going on, and that gives me tremendous happiness." 

Vicky Kaushal-Ranbir Kapoor’s collaborations 

Actors and directors are now concentrating more on the content of their films than on selecting a date that allows them a free window for their single release, due to the multiple releases and box office clashes of major motion pictures. It should be mentioned, though, that Vicky and Ranbir will reunite in the future for Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Love & War, which also stars Alia Bhatt.

Vicky Kaushal and Ranbir Kapoor previously collaborated in the movie Sanju, where both actors received praise for their superb performances. Vicky and Ranbir also shared screen space in the 2018 movie Love Per Square Foot, in which Ranbir had a cameo role.