'Baaghi 4' Teaser: Maybe the brief was be as 'Animal' as you can be; but why though?

The teaser for Baaghi 4 has finally roared in, and subtlety has clearly been told to pack its bags. Led by Tiger Shroff, this latest entry in the franchise pairs him with not one but two stunning co-stars- Harnaaz Sandhu making her big screen debut and Sonam Bajwa joining the mayhem, while Sanjay Dutt steps in as the central antagonist. From the very first frame, it is obvious this is not the glossy, choreographed Baaghi of old. The new chapter has gone rogue, swapping clean punches for grime, grit and gore.

Violence with No Filter

Every second of this teaser is dripping with intensity. The action is unapologetically savage, the violence almost gleefully graphic, and the entire thing feels engineered to make you gasp, wince, or both. Tiger’s character ploughs through enemies with vicious precision, the camera refusing to look away as bodies drop and injuries bloom across the screen. It is a startling tonal shift for the franchise, but the moment you settle into its new identity, something else grabs your attention — the déjà vu.

When Baaghi Meets Animal

Because whether the makers like it or not, Baaghi 4’s teaser is practically begging to be compared to Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Animal. The first time Sanjay Dutt appears, he is in long hair, a thick beard, and sporting a single tear rolling down his cheek. For anyone who has watched Animal, this is a visual trigger straight out of Ranbir Kapoor’s emotionally charged moments in the film. Then there is the wardrobe choice- a spotless white outfit that does not stay white for long. Within moments, Dutt is swinging a blood soaked machete, cutting down opponents without pause. The crimson splatters transform the pristine fabric into a walking crime scene, mirroring Ranbir’s now famous white kurta sequence from Animal’s interval block.

It does not stop there. We see a gang of masked men in black, sprinting through what appears to be a chase or ambush. Anyone who remembers Animal’s adrenaline fuelled masked men fight scene will feel the resemblance instantly. Even the way the characters move, the spatial blocking, the camera’s position- it is almost like a déjà vu reel running in split screen.

And then comes the kicker. In one particularly stomach churning moment, Dutt’s character appears to sever the hand of what looks like a corpse, only to casually use it to light his cigar. It is grotesque, outrageous, and impossible to look away from. If Animal was accused of testing the limits of violence in mainstream Hindi cinema, Baaghi 4 seems determined to push those limits further while grinning at the controversy it will stir.

Glimpses of Something Fresh

The similarities continue in the soundscape too. Over this onslaught plays a track by B Praak, whose music was a signature element of Animal’s emotional and high voltage sequences. The choice feels deliberate, intentional or not, further blending the two films in the audience’s mind.

Yet amid all this, there are glimmers of fresh energy. Sonam Bajwa and Harnaaz Sandhu do not seem to be stuck in the standard ornamental roles often handed to women in big action films. Even in the blink and you miss it shots, they are shown wielding weapons, spilling blood, and participating in the chaos rather than merely watching it unfold. If the film follows through on this, it could be one of its most refreshing moves.

Tiger Shroff too seems to have decided he is done with playing it safe. His presence here is more brutal, less acrobatic showpiece and more primal force. The clean martial arts flips and slow motion hero shots have been traded in for a performance that feels angrier, bloodier, and a lot more personal. It is an interesting pivot for an actor whose image has been built on polished stunts and boyish charm.

But here is the problem. No matter how much Baaghi 4 might want to stand on its own feet, its teaser keeps dragging you back to Animal. The visual cues, the costume choices, the fight staging, even the emotional beats are too frequent and too specific to be written off as coincidence. It feels like watching a remix when you were promised an original track.

Baaghi 4 might well surprise us when it arrives in full. It could take all these similarities and twist them into something entirely its own. But until then, the shadow of Animal looms large over it, and the conversation will not just be about what Baaghi 4 is but about what it cannot seem to stop reminding us of.

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