Sandeep Reddy Vanga questions Bollywood for bashing Animal but praising Ranbir Kapoor: ‘Agar usko bolenge toh…’

Ranbir Kapoor and Sandeep Reddy Vanga on Animal sets

Headlined by Ranbir Kapoor and helmed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga, the 2023 film Animal became a blockbuster upon its release as it grossed Rs 915 crore worldwide. The film was also criticised for glorifying toxic masculinity and misogny, and for its excessive violence. In his recent interview, Sandeep Reddy Vanga has questioned the disparity in the Hindi film industry for criticising Animal, but praising Ranbir Kapoor’s performance in the film.

Talking to film critic Komal Nahta on his YouTube channel Game Changers, the filmmaker said, “One thing I’ll tell you – film-related people who criticised Animal very badly, all of them said, ‘But Ranbir toh tod diya (Ranbir smashed it).’ See, I am not jealous of Ranbir, but I don’t understand the disparity. What I understood was that they wanted to work with Ranbir. Kyunki agar Ranbir ko bolenge toh…(Because if they say something to Ranbir then…) Obviously, it’s a different thing to comment on a star.”

“Mere par comment marna asaan hai because I am new to this place (It’s easy to comment on me). A filmmaker makes a film every 2-3 years, but an actor appears in films five times a year. So jinke saath kaam zyada hai unke baare mein kuch bolenge nahi (They won’t say anything about the ones they work with more often)”, he further added.

When the filmmaker was further asked if he felt like an outsider in the industry after receiving backlash for Animal, he stated, “No, I don’t believe in insider and outsider. I never felt like an outsider. As I said, there is a clear gang and disparity. But I think this happens when a new person comes to your school – you’ve been studying there since kindergarten, and someone joins in the 10th standard, so seniority lagta hai naa (you feel a sense of seniority).”

Apart from Ranbir Kapoor, Animal also starred Anil Kapoor, Rashmika Mandanna, Bobby Deol, Triptii Dimri, Shakti Kapoor, Prem Chopra, and Saurabh Sachdeva among others. Sandeep Reddy Vanga had made his Bollywood debut in 2019 with Shahid Kapoor’s blockbuster Kabir Singh, which was a remake of his own directorial debut, the 2017 Telugu film Arjun Reddy.