Sandeep Reddy Vanga gets into argument with Indian Idol contestant over Animal, Kabir Singh: ‘Remove this woke lens’

Director Sandeep Reddy Vanga recently got into an argument with an Indian Idol contestant over his films Animal and Kabir Singh.

Sandeep was invited as a special guest for an episode of Indian Idol 15. The conversation began when a contestant named Myscmme Bosu praised Animal, following which she said that her fellow contestant Manasi had some contentions with the storyline. “I’ve tried to convince her about how Animal makes sense, but she’s not convinced. I want Sandeep Sir to explain it to her,” Myscmme said. Expressing her views, Manasi shared, "There’s this scene with ‘Mera joota chato,’ and I personally have a problem with it.”

Sandeep responded, "But that didn’t happen in the scene... You have a problem with the joota chato scene, but no problem with the hero killing 300 people?” “Yes, there is a problem,” Manasi said.

During the conversation, Manasi also reminded Sandeep that lyricist and screenwriter Javed Akhtar also didn’t like the film. She said, “He said it’s dangerous for society, and I agree with him.”

“If Javed Ji wasn’t a lyricist or story writer, I would take his words seriously,” shot back Sandeep.

The conversation then went on to Kabir Singh and Manasi shared her own fear of getting into a toxic relationship. She asked Sandeep if he thought it is right for a couple to beat each other.

“I have said this many times and will say that again. It was their love. The point is that kuch seekhne ke liye films mat dekho (Don’t watch a film to learn something). Film ko sirf entertain hone ke liye dekho (Watch film to get entertained). And yeh woke lens hatao (And remove this woke lens)... Start watching content normally, there will always be people who will look for problems),” Sandeep said.

Following this, the contestant agreed with the filmmaker and walked off the stage.

Previously too Sandeep has been criticised for showing toxic masculinity and has been accused of misogyny for his films Animal and Kabir Singh. Nevertheless, the films went on to become blockbusters.