Anurag Kashyap on defending Sandeep Reddy Vanga's Animal: ‘Bade Miyan Chote Miyan and every action movie looks fake now’

Anurag Kashyap met Sandeep Reddy Vanga earlier this year and showered love on him and his 2023 film Animal, starring Ranbir Kapoor in lead role. Taking to Instagram, Anurag called Sandeep the 'most misunderstood, judged and reviled filmmaker at the moment'. In a new episode of his daughter Aaliyah Kashyap's podcast Young, Dumb & Anxious, Anurag was asked: 'What in the world was the Sandeep Reddy Vanga post?' Also read: Celebs ‘cringe’ as Anurag Kashyap praises Animal and Sandeep Reddy Vanga

'Animal a tectonic shift in the way films will be made'

Aaliyah said she was disappointed that Anurag Kashyap promoted Animal, a film she called 'horrible' and 'misogynistic'. Responding to Aaliyah, Anurag said, "I met him (Sandeep Reddy Vanga) and I liked him. I like the guy. I’ve had questions of my own and I wanted to talk to him about his film (Animal) and I invited him and I had a long five-hour conversation and I like the guy... I always believe in talking to people. I was cancelled after Dev D (2009) by a lot of people for making a 'misogynistic' film... I have often seen people isolating someone, attacking someone and that is not the way to be."

The director added, “This man (Sandeep), what you see is what he is. People may like Animal, they may not like Animal, but Animal is a major tectonic shift in the way films will be made. People will realise its impact in 5-10 years from now. Post Animal, every action movie looks fake. When you see, Bade Miyan Chote Miyan (Starring Akshay Kumar and Tiger Shroff), all those flips and fighting, it all looks fake because somehow the action in that film (Animal) and the use of music in that film had an impact, the technical details in the film had an impact on the audience. That will forever impact cinema.”

Anurag Kashyap's post for Sandeep Reddy Vanga

Anurag shared photos of himself meeting Sandeep and wrote on Instagram in January 2024, "Had a great evening with @sandeepreddy.vanga . The most misunderstood, judged and reviled filmmaker at the moment. To me he is the most honest, vulnerable and a lovely person. I wanted to meet the man and I had questions and he answered everything I asked of him about his film that I actually saw twice. Thank you for being patient and being yourself."

He further wrote in his caption, "This is a person you can actually confront and talk to. Please talk to him about the problems you have with the film. 40 days since I first saw Animal and 22 days since I saw it the second time. The biggest game changer of Hindi cinema in the longest time and a film whose impact (good or bad), can’t be denied. And the filmmaker who takes it all on his chin. Great evening spent with him."

About Animal

Animal was one of the biggest blockbusters of 2023. However, it was also criticised for its depiction of misogyny. The film revolves around a troubled father-son relationship. It has Ranbir Kapoor in the role of Rannvijay Singh, who goes on to take revenge after there's an assassination attempt on his father. Prem Chopra, Rashmika Mandanna, Triptii Dimri and Suresh Oberoi also featured in the movie.