It’s unheard of, especially in recent times. Karan Johar, on his celebrated coffee chat show, mentions about paid PR, critics not being taken seriously, and also, each episode justifies the popularity of star kids. The conversations, much to the glee of the selected industry folks, is Mandarin for an average cinema lover sitting out of a mofussil home in Bihar or Rajasthan.
Without digressing, the crux of the piece is not to get amused over the budapa chashma of Mr Johar (how many times same mention: uff) but the recent rather direct unfiltered jab at certain industry critics (pretty celebrated ones) by THE Sandeep Reddy Vanga, the creator of a cult classic Animal, which is reigning supreme in the hearts and minds of millions of cinema lovers across the globe.
That Vanga is a force to reckon with was evident with his nuanced understanding and depiction of “tabooed’ human emotions in Kabir Singh and now, Animal. (Decent English words, but I am not going to China, please)
However, he is a rebel, both on and off-screen. Please note, we don’t intend to take any side on the clash of the titans (the creators and the critics), but state POV on the importance of voicing opinions in an otherwise conformist world.
Vanga, in the past, has called out critics for being biased and hurting his film by hovering and hammering on certain parts of a movie rather than resorting to a holistic approach as a reviewer. (he calling Rajeev Masand fat was not cool, of course)
Now, he seems to have mentally unleashed the famous Animal gun from his movie and shot bullets, leaving savoury (read: bitter) marks on the minds of many.
In a recent interview with veteran and celebrated scribe Faridoon Shahryar, he named critics Rajeev Masand, Anupama Chopra and the Tyagi girl (presumably Sucharita Tyagi) and called them ‘illiterate’ and ‘uneducated’ and how there is a blatant agenda to hurt his work by spreading false narratives.
He said, and we quote: “You’re making money, fame, name, everything by criticising my film, then go ahead. That’s what happened with most of the critics during Kabir Singh. Their shot to fame was criticising ‘Kabir Singh’…Nobody speaks about the craft, the editing, or sound design, because they are literally illiterate, and uneducated when it comes to films. They have no sense of how to criticise or review the film.”
Tough choice of words and unimaginable given in today’s time, validation from certain special quarters is mandatory to define your career contours in a so-called perception-driven Bollywood industry. But it seems Mr Vanga doesn’t care as he believes in his craft and has left it to the aam janta to decide his fate.
Acrimony between warring parties is palpable and not in good taste. All mentioned tags are seniors, celebrated critics with robust professional credentials. However, the subtle veneer of the vanity of who defines what, in terms of making a film to decide audience perception, is what we call the Devil whispering into your ear. Remember the famous phrase, ‘Before fall comes pride,” and we must all rise in art, not tumble, for sure.
To get the other side of the story, we reached out to Masand; he chose silence while Anupama replied to our message saying, ‘Nope’. We are yet to have a word with the Tyagi girl (just kidding).
To Mr Vanga and all esteemed fellow fraternity figures, to spar is futile. In every episode of Koffee, we hear from Mr Johar about how small and connected the Bollywood industry is, where bonhomie has gone missing, and how we need to do more to rekindle warmth and fellowship. So, let’s get to it. As they say, charity begins at home. This festive season, spread love, not hatred (pardon the gyaan mode). And everyone else who has nothing better to do, watch Animal at a theatre near you.
Signing off.
