Vivek Agnihotri calls Animal director Sandeep Reddy Vanga his alter-ego & fearless, says he is showing truth through his – Firstpost

Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri, who is currently gearing up for the release of The Delhi Files and is known for expressing his thoughts in the most unfiltered way possible, spoke about three popular filmmakers – Karan Johar, Anurag Kashyap and Sandeep Reddy Vanga in an appreciative way.

The Kashmir Files helmer praised the trio for their contributions to cinema and also defended Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s storytelling approach.

“I really want to praise Karan Johar because he changed the commerciability of commercial cinema. He took it to a different scale. And just like how I am the brand ambassador of my films, he is the ambassador of his films. He is the face of Dharma Productions,” Vivek told Humans of Bombay.

“Earlier, he used to be introduced as a fashion diva and anchor. But, he is a personality to look up to. Secondly, he took his father’s business from a boutique production house to a mass production house. He has also given breaks to several talented film directors—Ayan Mukerji, Shashank Khaitan. He has also given break to several stars and star kids. He has created shows for television and OTT. He even changed the scale of award shows by being an anchor. He has done a lot of great things,” he added.

Crediting Anurag Kashyap for reviving the independent cinema, Vivek said, “Before him, it was Shyam Benegal, Govind Nihalani and Prakash Jha. But they too turned into commercial directors. But Anurag has fought a war and he has given break to several small-town boys and girls. He has instilled confidence in people whose war was with English. Today, they believe even they are capable of doing something in life. Several talented people have come from Anurag—both filmmakers, and actors.”

“Despite all these achievements, I personally believe he has not exploited his full potential. Maybe due to his own complexities, he is yet to exploit his full potential. He took a flight, up and quick, and then there was no conclusion to that. He couldn’t take his own success to a logical conclusion,” he added.

The filmmaker then spoke about Sandeep Reddy Vanga and called the Kabir Singh and Animal director his alter ego. “Sandeep Reddy Vanga is more like my alter ego in the industry. Just like me he speaks fearlessly,” Vivek shared.

He also defended Vanga’s vision and storytelling and added, “People question Sandeep Reddy Vanga for toxic masculinity, but what is really happening in the society? Isn’t it the truth? Does your society respect women? It is just his storytelling. He is showing the world to the people from his point of view.”

The Tashkent Files helmer later drew comparisons of his films with Shekhar Kapur’s Bandit Queen and said, “Many asked me ‘Why did you not show the film from the other point of view?’ How can I do that? Why will I show the film from a terrorist’s point of view? And how will I even make an attempt at it when I don’t even know how they see the world? Even Shekhar Kapur was questioned when he made Bandit Queen from Phoolan Devi’s perspective. But, over a period of time, people realised that Bandit Queen was right. After Pahalgam attack, people realised Kashmir Files was right. I am not claiming that I believe in Vanga. I am just saying he has the right to tell stories from his point of view. People who are abusing him, are also using their right. But, at the end of the day, he is laughing looking at his bank.”