Clearing out and responding to the 'criticised' and 'problematic' scenes in his recent film, 'Animal,' director Sandeep Reddy Vanga has been making headlines for his statements.
Now, he has claimed that it wasn’t a conscious decision to show inter-caste relationships in each of his movies – 'Arjun Reddy,' 'Kabir Singh,' as well as 'Animal.' During an interview with Galatta Plus, the filmmaker discussed the rebellious kiss between Ranbir Kapoor and Rashmika Mandanna's characters in 'Animal,' which portrays an act of defiance against their respective families.
When questioned about his interest in inter-caste relationships, Vanga mentioned that it wasn't done intentionally. “I see a lot of Telugu and Tamil families settled in Delhi. Maybe I like seeing inter-region and inter-caste marriage…”
Additionally, when asked about the kiss and its placement in the film accompanied by a rock song in the background, Vanga commented, “There’s a recklessness in the rock. You feel like they’re voicing out their rage. There’s a bit of negligence also in that,” he said.
He continued, “I thought, after we see what he does in the school, and the family drama, I wanted him to sit in such a way that he has already heard a lot from (her family), but we, as an audience, are only listening to the last part of it. The brief was, ‘You’ve been listening to this for 10 minutes, you know that they are not going to understand your explanations, so let’s give them something unexpected’. After that, there’s no more talking.”
During the same interview, Vanga addressed the depiction of female characters in his films, dismissing claims of misogyny and strongly slamming critics. Despite its criticisms, 'Animal' has garnered more Rs 850 crore in box office collections worldwide, securing its position as the third-highest-grossing Indian film of 2023 and the biggest A-rated Indian movie ever made.
