Director Sandeep Reddy Vanga has taken an indirect dig at YouTuber Dhruv Rathee and other critics who linked films like Animal and Dhurandhar to the chainsaw attack on a Class 10 student in Andhra Pradesh.
Without naming anyone, in his post, the 44-year-old said the “immediate response to such a crime should be empathy” and an effort to understand the bigger problem, not “finding a convenient scapegoat in cinema”.
He claimed some people were using the incident as an “excuse to settle personal scores”, and said their concern was not for the victims or their families but a chance to target someone else’s work.
The Animal director also went after actors, directors and producers, saying they suddenly turn into social reformers whenever they get a chance to criticise other filmmakers. He ended by saying a “tragedy deserved empathy, not opportunism.”
It all started when Rathee shared a report on the school attack and took a swipe at the films. “Special thanks to movies like Animal and Dhurandhar for giving templates to these criminals,” he wrote.
Social media split right away. Some backed him and questioned how mainstream cinema shows violence, while others said fiction should not be blamed for real crimes. Marco was also named by several users in the criticism.
The Horrific Incident
The attack happened on October 31 at Zilla Parishad High School in Raptadu, Anantapur district. A 21-year-old man, identified as Hemanth, allegedly walked into a classroom and attacked a Class 10 student, Gopika, with a mechanised chainsaw after she rejected his advances.
She suffered severe injuries to her neck and abdomen, and her right hand was nearly severed. Another student was hurt while trying to protect her.
The case has caused outrage over violence against women and girls, and the old debate on cinema and real-life behaviour is back.