Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut has refused to work with Animal director Sandeep Reddy Vanga after the filmmaker praised her work and said he would like to collaborate with her. For those unversed, in one of his recent interviews, Vanga said he loved Kangana's performance in filmsl ike Queen and Tanu Weds Manu.
On Tuesday, Kangana took to her official X account to re-share a small clip of Vanga's interview where he expresses his desire to work with her. However, very politely, Kangana asked him not to offer her any roles and she doesn't wish to collaborate with him on any project.
Kangana wrote in Hindi, "Review and criticism are not the same, every kind of art should be reviewed and discussed, it is a normal thing. The way Sandeep ji showed respect towards me by smiling at my review, it can be said that he not only makes manly films, his attitude is also manly, thank you sir."
The Tejas actress added, "But please don't ever give me any role otherwise your alpha male heroes will become feminist and then your films will also be beaten. You make blockbusters, the film industry needs you."
In an interview with Siddharth Kannan, Vanga revealed that Kangana's negative review of Animal does not make him feel 'bad.' He said, "If I get a chance, if I feel she will fit into it, I will go and narrate the story. I have seen a lot of her films, and I like her performances. So if she is giving a negative comment about Animal, I don't mind. I don't get angry also."
He added, "If Kangana has done the same thing that is anti-misogyny in films or if she is commenting on that, I will say, 'Hey, listen, you should also check yourself.' But I don't remember what she has done in response to what she has commented on Animal. I genuinely liked her performance in Queen, Tanu Weds Manu, and so many other films."
Last month, without mentioning the names of any films, Kangana replied to a fan on X who wondered why her film Tejas didn't work well. She wrote, "Paid negativity for my films is overwhelming, I have been fighting hard so far but even audiences are encouraging women beating films where they are treated like sex objects and asked to lick shoes, this is deeply discouraging for someone who has been dedicating her life for woman empowerment films, might shift career in coming years, want to give best years of my life to something worthwhile."
Her comment was an apparent dig at Animal, in which Ranbir Kapoor's character was seen asking Tripti Dimri's character Zoya to lick his shoe.
Animal found itself at the centre of several controversies after its release, primarily due to Ranbir's character, Ranvijay, who was shown to be a self-proclaimed "alpha male". The film was slammed by a number of critics and audience alike, and it was accused of promoting sexism, violence and toxic masculinity.
Animal also stars Rashmika Mandanna, Bobby Deol, Anil Kapoor and others. It released in theatres on December 1 and is now streaming on an OTT platform.
