Filmmaker Hits Back at Criticism Over Violence

A violent incident in Raptadu, Anantapur district, Andhra Pradesh, has ignited a debate about the portrayal of violence in cinema. A Class 10 student, Gopika, was attacked with an electric chainsaw by Hemanth, a 21-year-old man, after she rejected his advances. This brutal act has raised significant concerns about school safety and has been controversially compared by some to a scene in Sandeep Reddy Vanga's 2023 film 'Animal'.

Director Sandeep Reddy Vanga has broken his silence on the controversy, strongly criticizing those who link his film to the real-life tragedy. Vanga asserted that empathy and understanding the broader societal issues should be the priority, rather than finding a convenient scapegoat in cinema. He suggested that critics are using the horrific event to settle personal scores and called out individuals he labeled as "jobless" and "parasites" for opportunistically engaging in social reform commentary.