'Sandeep Reddy Vanga engaged in fights, behaved obnoxiously, he even told Javed sahab...,' says Varun Grover, adding that Anurag Kashyap defended him, not his film

Time of India

a day ago

After the release of
's 'Animal',
had shared a picture with the director and penned a long note to praise his work. Meanwhile, what caught everyone's attention were comments from director
and screenwriter, lyricist
.
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While Neeraj commented, 'Cringe', Grover wrote, 'No'. Now in a recent interview, Varun has further elaborated on his comment and why he said so.
He said that Anurag didn't defend the film but he was defending the director. He said, "See, if anyone defends a film or a work of art, no matter how divisive or politically incorrect it is, I'll definitely understand their viewpoint, no matter how I myself don't agree with the film.
So, to defend a work of art is one thing. But to defend an artist is another thing. 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. I thought in that post, Mr. Kashyap was not defending the film, but the filmmaker and defending his behaviour. There was nothing in the post about the film, but all about the filmmaker.'
He further spoke about Vanga's persona and his behaviour publicly, including his social media posts.
He sad, "He is a filmmaker who, on Twitter or social media, has engaged in fights and behaved obnoxiously. If I recall correctly, he even told Javed saab that he 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."
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Grover further praised Kashyap and revealed that the 'Dev D' director called him immediately after his comment. "The special thing about Anurag Kashyap is that he has an open heart and mind. He immediately talks, immediately tries to understand you. So, within half an hour, he called and said, 'Explain to me. What happened? What's the problem here?' 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.
"
He added that Kashyap doesn't believe in hierarchy and that's what makes him stand apart. Varun said, "The best thing about Kashyap is that he never believed in any hierarchy. He's not like, 'Oh, how can you tell me this?' or 'I won't listen to this person.' That kind of hierarchy doesn't exist on his film sets, nor in his life.'
For those not in the know, Anurag's note about Sandeep read, "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.'