Sandeep Reddy Vanga doesn’t mince words. Like most of his protagonists, he is a fearless man who speaks his heart. More than his films, people wait for his interviews. In a recent with Komal Nahta, Sandeep opened up about several things. From calling out Bollywood’s disparity to how his actors are being treated, Sandeep made some interesting revelations. Here’s what the Animal director said.
In an interview with Game Changers, Sandeep Reddy Vanga talked about the hypocrisy in Bollywood. He said that many filmy people from Bollywood criticized Animal but praised Ranbir Kapoor. Because they wanted to work with Ranbir, they refrained from commenting on him. They bashed my film because they felt it was okay. “One thing I’ll tell you—film-related people who criticized Animal very badly, all of them said, ‘But Ranbir toh todd 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…) 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),” said Vanga in his style.
When Komal Nahta asked him if they did it because he was an outsider, Sandeep replied, “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).”
What took Komal Nahta by surprise was when Sandeep said that a production company rejected an actor because he was part of Kabir Singh. Revealing Bollywood’s bias, “An actor who had worked with me in Kabir Singh was denied work by a major Bollywood production company. I dare if they say the same with Ranbir Kapoor, Triptii Dimri, and Rashmika Mandanna”, Vanga vented his frustration. “I felt both irritated and saddened by the situation”, said the maverick director.