Sandeep Reddy Vanga, criticized for his film "Animal" due to its bold and controversial storyline. One particular scene from the film where Ranbir Kapoor seen slapping female lead Rashmika Mandana became the point of discussion. After lot of chaos Barfi film director Anurag Kashyap came in support of Sandeep and called him honest while he slammed Bollywood industry as a Toxic.
Anurag, in an interview with Zoom TV, revealed why he defended Sandeep Reddy Vanga while calling out 'toxicity' in Bollywood. Anurag, speaking about supporting the Arjun Reddy director, said, “I like the guy (Sandeep). I have no problem with him. Unlike a lot of people in the industry who pretend to be someone they are not, he is honest. The former kind, I think, is even more toxic. But Vanga is an honest man. I don’t like anything more than honesty, no matter what others’ issues with honesty are. I love talking to him.”
The director of Gangs of Wasseypur was recently interviewed by his daughter Aaliyah Kashyap for her podcast - Young, Dumb & Anxious. Aaliyah also questioned him about his choice to support Sandeep despite facing criticism, as she personally thought Animal was 'horrible' and 'misogynistic'. Anurag opined, “I met him (Sandeep) 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.”
Anurag embarked on his journey as a director with the film Paanch, which unfortunately never saw the light of day. His subsequent project, Black Friday, faced significant delays in its release due to censorship challenges arising from its sensitive political content. The filmmaker garnered critical acclaim for his portrayal of the 1993 Mumbai bombings in the said film. Anurag rose to prominence with his contributions to cinematic masterpieces like Dev D, Gulaal, Gangs of Wasseypur (both parts), Mukkabaaz, and Dobaara.