Filmmaker Sandeep Reddy Vanga got into a war of words with a female contestant on Indian Idol 15 after she objected to certain scenes in the 2023 film, Animal. A video of the incident has now gone viral in which the director can be seen asking her to watch the film without the 'woke lens' and only for entertainment purpose.
It all began after Vanga appeared on Indian Idol 15 for a special episode. During the episode, a contestant named Myscmme Bosu praised the much-debated film, Animal, and added that her fellow contestant, Manasi, does not like the film.
Manasi then went on to explain her dislike towards the film. "There is a scene in the film where the actress is asked to lick the actor's shoe. I personally have a problem with it," she said, to which, Vanga promptly responded, "But it didn't happen in the scene. You have a problem with the 'joota chaato' scene but you don't have problem with the hero killing 300 people?"
Manasi also quoted Javed Akhtar during the conversation and said that the veteran screenwriter had called the film "dangerous for society". To that, Vanga replied, "If Javed Ji wasn’t a lyricist or story writer, I’d take his words seriously," and burst into a fit of laughter.
The contestant also pointed out another scene from Vanga's blockbuster film, Kabir Singh, and asked if he feels it's right for two people in a relationship to slap each other.
Vanga replied, "It was their love. The point is, don't watch a film to learn something. Watch it only to get entertained. And ye woke lens hatao. Start watching normally. There will always be people who will look for problems."
Animal was one of the highest grossing films of 2023, and it was also the most-debated one. The film divided the entire nation into two sections, with one slamming it and calling the lead character toxic and misogynist.
