It's controversial/ Sandeep Reddy Vanga: Animal director whose comments are as controversial as his films

Sandeep Reddy Vanga, the director of the recently released film Animal, is in the news for portraying his characters in a controversial light. A relatively new filmmaker, who made his debut with Vijay Deverakonda and Shalini Pandey starrer Arjun Reddy in 2017, and is just three films old, Sandeep's unabashed views have earned him a cult following among a section of the audience. His ideas, often an integral part of his storytelling, have more often than not divided the audience even as his films rake in the moolah at the box office, with Animal being the latest.

Here, we dissect a few points as to why Reddy Vanga's films have been viewed as controversial while laying out some disputable comments made by the director in the past.  

Aggressive male protagonists

Sandeep's male characters have been portrayed as aggressive and go to extreme lengths for love or family. The titular character in Arjun Reddy, played by Vijay Deverakonda, is an obsessive lover who often forces his ideas on his ladylove Preeti (Shalini Pandey). This in turn leaves his female characters voiceless, submissive and without authority even in the matters that concern her.

Later, Sandeep went on to remake Arjun Reddy in Hindi which was titled Kabir Singh, and featured Shahid Kapoor and Kiara Advani in the lead roles. Defending his lead character and the film, Sandeep said, "I don't think Kabir Singh is a misogynistic film."    

Debate around toxic male characters

Sandeep's films have depicted toxic male characters who indulge in physical and verbal violence against women and also sexually abuse without seeing any wrong in it. In Arjun Reddy and Kabir Singh, the titular characters try to be physical with women at knifepoint. Reddy Vanga's movies, including Animal, depict scenes in which male characters commit violence against women and indulge in sexual abuse.

Defending a scene in Kabir Singh where the male character hits a female in a fit of rage, Sandeep said, "If you can't slap, touch, kiss or cuss your woman, I don't see any emotion there."

Violence in films

Animal has been heavily criticised for the way it depicts violence perpetrated by Rannvijay Singh (Ranbir Kapoor). After facing criticism for Arjun Reddy and Kabir Singh, Sandeep had warned the audience he'd go all out with violence in Animal. "They are calling it a violent film. They don't know. I'll show them what a violent film is," Sandeep had said in an interview as he discussed Animal. 

Turns out, the director went all out with blood and gore in the Ranbir Kapoor and Rashmika Mandanna starrer.

I didn't think much about it: Sandeep on controversies courted by his films

Sandeep has been very vocal about not accepting criticism of his films. When he was asked about a "non-consensual" kiss in Kabir Singh, he refused to accept any controversy around it. "I didn’t think much about it. Only four-five people felt offended, and created noise about it. I never took them seriously. We should not talk about all that, bhool jao Kabir Singh ko (forget Kabir Singh)." Scenes of such nature are depicted in Animal as well. A couple of sequences seemingly portray Abrar (Bobby Deol), indulging in non-consensual sex with his wives.