Image (L) courtesy: raodyness, Image (R) courtesy: sandeepreddy.vanga

Aamir Khan, ex-wife Kiran Rao and Animal director Sandeep Reddy Vanga are at present concerned in a three-way trade of essential commentary, each implied and direct. In this, Aamir is a silent participant but additionally the fulcrum round which the controversy has coalesced. There’s quite a bit to unpack within the sequence of occasions which started with Sandeep Reddy Vanga taking goal at Kiran Rao in a current interview. For context, Mr Vanga’s final two movies – Animal and Kabir Singh – have been each not simply large hits but additionally broadly condemned for his or her glorification of misogyny and poisonous masculinity. Sandeep Reddy Vanga has spent a lot of his public time because the launch of Animal defending his filmmaking from critics who warn in opposition to the hazards of portraying violence in opposition to and debasement of girls.

A break-down of Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s cost in opposition to Kiran Rao, her rejoinder, and Aamir Khan’s incidental involvement.

SANDEEP REDDY VANGA NAME-CHECKS KIRAN RAO

In an interview with Dainik Bhaskar, the Animal director focused Kiran Rao apropos of an outdated remark by which she known as out sure movies for blurring the road between stalking and wooing. He informed Dainik Bhaskar (translated from Hindi): “Today morning, my AD showed me an article. It is of 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.”

WHAT KIRAN RAO SAID LAST YEAR

In November 2023, Kiran Rao known as for gender sensitisation at a session whereas citing a Tata Institute of Social Sciences report that included “stalking as one of the most glorified forms of wooing a woman” – movies comparable to these do very nicely, stated Ms Rao naming Kabir Singh. “Another very big film, which I find fascinating, was Baahubali 1(Baahubali: The Beginning). It started off with this exciting fight sequence, where this woman is leaping from tree to tree, and she is a warrior. But the hero delicately strips her of her agency and makes her just a fantastic romantic interest. I find it fascinating. It is (one of) the biggest films of Indian cinema,” she added, as reported by Times Of India.

SANDEEP REDDY VANGA NAME CHECKS AAMIR KHAN

Indian mainstream cinema has lengthy been accused of selling stalking and rejecting the notion of consent. Mr Vanga compounded his dismissal of a really critical concern with whataboutery, referencing Kiran Rao’s ex-husband Aamir Khan’s 1990 movie Dil. “Main kehna chahunga uss aurat ko ki jaake Aamir Khan ko pucho ‘Khambe jaisi khadi hai, Ladki hai ya fuljari hai’ woh kya tha? Then come back to me. That is, matlab, if you remember Dil, almost rape attempt tak leke jaake usko ehsaas jatata hai ki isne galat kiya. Aur usko pyar ho jata hai. Yeh sab kya hai? (I would like to say to that woman, ‘Go ask Aamir Khan, ‘Is she like a pillar, a girl, or a firecracker?’ What was that?” Then come again to me. If you keep in mind Dil, he nearly creates the state of affairs in direction of an tried rape, and it makes her realise that she was incorrect. She finally falls in love. What is all this?) I do not perceive why they assault like that earlier than checking the environment,” Sandeep Reddy Vanga told Dainik Bhaskar.

AAMIR KHAN’S OLD APOLOGY GOES VIRAL

Soon after Mr Vanga’s remarks went viral, the Internet went digging and found an old video of Aamir Khan apologising for Dil and the Khambe Jaisi Khadi Hai song. “I’m very ashamed,” Aamir had said in an interview with Aaj Tak – Dil, which co-starred Madhuri Dixit, was a huge hit but has since been accused of rape apology and trivializing sexual assault as a form of romance.

Aamir Khan said in the old interview: “Hindi movies haven’t been accountable sufficient, particularly the way in which we mission women and men. When we present one thing incorrect within the movies, we additionally present that the results of it’s one thing constructive. Which is incorrect. And we regularly make the ladies an ‘merchandise’ in movies. Even the songs are like ‘tu cheez badi hai mast mast‘. And even I’m concerned on this and I’ve finished such movies. ‘khambe jaisi khadi hai, ladki hai ya chadi hai.’ We are calling ladies ‘khamba‘ however not people. I’m very ashamed of it.”

A post on X called Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s attention to Aamir Khan’s apology for participating in Bollywood’s Nineties-era irresponsibility and asked if Mr Vanga would do the same for objectifying women in his own films:

Look @imvangasandeep#AamirKhan apologized in entrance of everybody for utilizing “khambe jaisi khadi”song in Dil…will you ever do the same for showing women as objects in your movies https://t.co/22ypuOCTgbpic.twitter.com/bBBp7FjPJu

— RAJ (@AamirsDevotee) February 3, 2024

KIRAN RAO’S RESPONSE

Shots were fired by Sandeep Reddy Vanga and were answered by Kiran Rao in a recent interview to The Quint. Like the post on X, Ms Rao praised the actor. “There are only a few individuals who would look again at their physique of labor and apologise for doing one thing problematic looking back and that is actually laudable,” she said, adding that if the Animal director had something to say to Aamir Khan, he should do so directly: “If Mr Vanga has one thing to inform Aamir, he ought to inform him man to man. I’m not answerable for Aamir’s work or Aamir Khan. I want Mr Reddy would tackle his questions on to Mr Khan.”

Kiran Rao also said that her inclusion of Kabir Singh as an example of screen misogyny was part of a general criticism of the way women are depicted in Bollywood and that she had not seen Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s films. “I’ve by no means commented on Mr Sandeep’s movies as a result of I’ve by no means seen them. I’ve typically spoken on misogyny and the illustration of girls on display. I’ve talked about it on varied platforms at varied instances. But I’ve by no means taken the identify of any movie as a result of it isn’t concerning the particular movie. Why Mr Vanga has assumed that I used to be speaking about his movie you will should ask him. I’ve by no means seen his movie,” she said.

IS THIS THE LAST WORD, FOR ITS WORTH?

On X, the official handle of Animal posted indignantly, “We neither our director Sandeep Reddy Vanga are making any assumptions Ms Kiran Rao. It is a truth reported by a really massive media channel.”

We neither our Director Mr @imvangasandeep are making any assumptions Miss @ikiranrao !
It’s a fact reported by a very big media channel.

Article Link 👇🏼https://t.co/dLKVn5pPO4pic.twitter.com/lJcLHmHwGJ

— Animal The Film (@AnimalTheFilm) February 5, 2024

So far, so complicated – it seems to be a self-goal for Sandeep Reddy Vanga given that Aamir Khan’s apology for Dil is available for public consumption.