Bollywood filmmaker Sanjay Gupta came down heavily on director Sandeep Reddy Vanga for getting into a heated argument with veteran producer Boney Kapoor during a panel discussion. During the discussion, Vanga was seen telling Kapoor how Hindi cinema has reinvented itself due to the popularity of films made in the South.
It began with Kapoor explaining how Telugu films have a big market in the US, while Tamil films are popular in Malaysia and Singapore, and the Gulf had more of a cosmopolitan crowd and cinema taste. Vanga then interjected and went on to say, “It might sound harsh but you have to accept this that we South Indians have changed the way you look at cinema. You guys (Bollywood) were stuck in making films for Bandra and Juhu, but we changed it.”
Kapoor disagreed to his statement, but Vanga continued with his argument stating that Telugu cinema helped rediscover Bollywood, citing examples of massy films. “I don’t believe that. It was always there (in Hindi cinema). Even the hero of Pushpa said he is a big fan of Amitabh Bachchan. He could’ve said he is a fan of NT Rama Rao…It means it’s not the language,” Kapoor explained.
The segment was widely shared online and Shootout At Lokhandwala maker Sanjay Gupta disapproved of Vanga’s argument with Kapoor. Reacting to the clip, he wrote on X, “Who is this obnoxious guy sitting next to a senior producer like Boney Ji and deriding him with his fake vanity? Look at his body language and disgusting attitude. 4/5 hits dene se yeh Bollywood ke baap nahin bane na banienge (sic).”
Gupta went on to say, “Like the dialogue from AATISH: “Kapde badal lene se aur sone ki chain pahen lene se driver Don nahin ban jaata (sic).” However, he later deleted the tweet.
Vanga is yet to respond to the criticism.
Meanwhile, Vanga was seen getting into ugly spats and arguments with a number of Bollywood filmmakers, including Javed Akhtar and Kiran Rao post the success of his films like Kabir Singh and Animal. Both the films courted major controversies when they released in theatres and the filmmaker as well as his stories were labelled toxic and dangerously misogynist.
