Kiran Rao's latest film Laapataa Ladies, starring Pratibha Ranta, Sparsh Shrivastav and Nitanshi Goel, is receiving rave reviews from audience as well as film critics. The film has created quite a buzz on social media and netizens are lauding its storyline, direction as well as the performance of the actors.
X (formerly known as Twitter) is flooded with reactions from fans and a scene featuring veteran actress Chhaya Kadam has also gone viral with a section of users claiming that it is a dig at Animal director Sandeep Reddy Vanga. Yes, you read that right.
The said scene features Kadam's character Manju Maai discussing her abusive marriage with Nitanshi's character Phool. She says, "A man who loves you has the right to beat you. One day, I exercised my right as well."
Several users believed that the dialogue was a jibe at Vanga, who had defended a controversial slap scene in his film Kabir Singh, with a similar line. In an old interview, the filmmaker had said, "If you can’t touch your woman, wherever you want, and if you can’t slap, you can’t kiss, you can’t use cuss words. I don’t see the emotion there."
Here's how netizens reacted to the scene:
A user commented, "Didnt Rashmika's character slap Ranvijay multiple times in Animal? I think for Vanga, slapping or hitting is part of love, man or women doesnt matter. And i agree, its not correct either way."
Sandeep Reddy Vanga-Kiran Rao controversy
After the release of Animal, Vanga was asked about Kiran's statement on how films like Baahubali and Kabir Singh promote 'misogyny and stalking.'
Speaking to Dainik Bhaskar, without mentioning Kiran's name, Vanga said that his AD showed him an article which was by 'the second ex-wife of a superstar.'
"She is saying that films like Bahubaali 2 and Kabir Singh promote misogyny and stalking. I think she does not know the difference between stalking and approaching. When people read these things out of context, they tend to agree. This is entirely wrong," he added.
Further, Sandeep took a dig at Aamir and said, "I want to tell that woman that go and ask Aamir Khan about the song ‘Khambe jaisi khadi hai’, what was that? Then come back to me. If you remember Dil, he almost attempts rape, he makes her feel like she has done the wrong thing. And they fall in love after that. What was all that? I don’t understand why they attack like that before checking the surroundings."
Reacting to his statement, Kiran had said that she did not mention any og his films in her interviews and she will continue to speak on these issues. "Why Mr Vanga Reddy has assumed that I am talking about his film, you will have to ask him. I haven't seen his films nor have I taken the name of any of his films," Kiran had said in another interview.
Kiran also praised her ex-husband Aamir for apologising for 'Khambe Jaisi Khadi Hai'. "He is one of the few people who apologised, for specifically the song that Mr Vanga was talking about, which is 'Khambe Jaisi Khadi Hai' and other such films. There are very few people who would look at their body of work and apologise for something that they think is problematic in retrospect. There's an episode in Satyameva Jayate Season 3 where he talks about this. He is one of the people who has stepped up and taken responsibility, as a creator and as a person speaking to a mass audience. That's really laudable," Kiran stated.
She added, "If Mr Reddy has something to say to Aamir, he should tell him man to man. I am not responsible for Aamir's work or Aamir Khan. So, I wish Mr Reddy would address his questions directly to Mr Khan."
