'Sandeep Reddy Vanga Engaged In Fights And Behaved Obnoxiously', Varun Grover Says Anurag Kashyap Defended The Filmmaker

In 2024, filmmaker Anurag Kashyap shared pics with Animal director Sandeep Reddy Vanga, with a lengthy post praising the latter. It was after the release of the Ranbir Kapoor starrer. A couple of comments on the post grabbed our attention. One was of filmmaker Neeraj Ghaywan who wrote “Cringe,” and another comment was of screenwriter-lyricist and stand-up comedian Varun Grover who wrote, “No.” In a recent interview with The Lallantop, Grover opened up about the reason behind his comment on Anurag's post's for Vanga.

He said in the post, Anurag was "not defending the film" but the behaviour of the filmmaker. He felt "there was nothing in the post about the film," but all about Vanga.

"I have always believed that I’m never against or in support of a person. I’m always either in favour of an idea or against it."

Grover went on to talk about Sandeep Reddy Vanga's behaviour, who "has engaged in fights and behaved obnoxiously," on social media.

He recalled Vanga saying that Javed Akhtar "can’t write or doesn’t have a sense of writing, and he said it very arrogantly and rudely."

"So, I thought, if Mr. Kashyap had defended the film in any way, it would have been fine. I would’ve never said anything. I said ‘No’ because I thought: you are shielding the filmmaker, not the film," he added.

Varun Grover also revealed that half an hour after his comment, Anurag, who he says "has an open heart and mind", called him and asked to explain what happened and what the problem was. "So we talked, and he agreed, he said, ‘Yeah, you’re in the right.’ Even later, I went to meet him and we’ve talked about it many times since then," said Grover.

The screenwriter also said that "the best thing about Kashyap is that he never believed in any hierarchy, neither on his film sets, nor in his life."

What Anurag Kashyap wrote about Sandeep Reddy Vanga

Sharing a few pictures with Vanga, Kashyap wrote on Instagram, "Had a great evening with @sandeepreddy.vanga. The most misunderstood, judged and reviled filmmaker at the moment. To me he is the most honest, vulnerable and a lovely person. I wanted to meet the man and I had questions, and he answered everything I asked of him about his film, that I actually saw twice. Thank you for being patient and being yourself. This is a person you can actually confront and talk to. Please talk to him about the problems you have with the film. 40 days since I first saw Animal and 22 days since I saw it the second time. The biggest game changer of Hindi cinema in the longest time, and a film whose impact, good or bad, can’t be denied. And the filmmaker who takes it all on his chin. Great evening spent with him."

This post was shared after Vanga faced criticism for his film Animal.