Sandeep Reddy Vanga and his film ‘Animal’ have been receiving immense criticism and hate for being “too violent” and “misogynistic”. And he had kind of anticipated it, having been prepared for this kind of response after ‘Kabir Singh’. However, the filmmaker believes that if he starts considering every other person’s morality, then people should just stop making films.
In an interview with Connect FM Canada, Sandeep Reddy Vanga took a direct dig at film critics like Rajeev Masand, Anupama Chopra and Sucharita Tyagi – all of whom have given negative reviews about ‘Animal’. He called them “illiterate” and “uneducated” who just take out certain aspects of the film and critique it, instead of looking at the film as a whole.
“You’re making money, fame, name, everything by criticising my film, then go ahead. That’s what happened with most of the critics during Kabir Singh. Their shot to fame was criticising ‘Kabir Singh’…Nobody speaks about the craft, the editing, sound design, because they are literally illiterate, uneducated when it comes to films. They have no sense of how to criticise the film or review the film,” he said.
He went on to add that if one has to consider morality, then they should just make cartoons. After all, ‘Animal’ is an A-rated film.
“In a way, I understood their mental status and their IQ…If morality comes into the picture, then you can’t make this film. If everybody is going to focus just on the morality, we should stop making films. Let’s just make cartoons. They’re saying children are walking out of the theatres in tears, high school girls are feeling unsafe; they should not be watching the film, it’s rated A.”
He alleged that film critic Anupama Chopra constantly messaged him before the release of the film asking for an interview. But after the release of the film, he saw a “different colour”. Even Rajeev Masand apparently called him for a roundtable interview, which Vanga declined because he “hated” his film.
You can watch the entire interview here:
What do you think about his statements?