Vikramaditya Motwane, Sona Mohapatra slam Kabir Singh director Sandeep Vanga’s tweet

Filmmaker Vikramaditya Motwane and singer Sona Mohapatra have criticized director Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s recent tweet, in which the Kabir Singh filmmaker had called for brutal punishment to tackle violence against women. Vanga’s tweet came after the recent alleged rape-murder of a Hyderabad doctor.

Vanga had written, “FEAR is the only factor which can change things radically in society and FEAR should be the new rule. The brutal sentence will set an example. Now every girl in the country needs a firm guarantee. I request @warangalpolice to come into action.” 

FEAR is the only factor which can change things radically in a society and FEAR should be the new rule. Brutal sentence will set an example. Now every girl in the country needs a firm guarantee.I request @warangalpolice to come into action.#RIPPriyankaReddy

— Sandeep Reddy Vanga (@imvangasandeep) November 30, 2019

Vanga was heavily criticized for his depiction of violence in the name of romance in his films, Kabir Singh and Arjun Reddy. His comments in defense of the films were also slammed. The burnt body of the doctor was discovered on Thursday night. After a preliminary probe, it was found that she was sexually assaulted as well. Vanga was previously forced to defend his film after a man allegedly cited the main character as an influence before allegedly murdering a woman. 

Motwane in his tweet responded to Vanga’s statement with an indirect reference to Kabir Singh. “Will that FEAR stop them from slapping her?” he asked. One of the points of criticism against Kabir Singh was that he physically assaulted his girlfriend and that the film and filmmaker justified Kabir’s actions as an act of love.

Will that FEAR stop them from slapping her? https://t.co/dgOIHyTWlU

— Vikramaditya Motwane (@VikramMotwane) December 1, 2019

Sona, meanwhile, wrote, “Would also help if you did your job better.Stop making films where you glorify sexist behaviour, misogyny & violence against women. Films like #KabirSingh aka #ArjunReddy where you ride on male toxicity for commercial gain. Maybe use your ‘virtue signalling’ in your work?” 

Would also help if you did your job better.Stop making films where you glorify sexist behaviour, misogyny & violence against women. Films like #KabirSingh aka #ArjunReddy where you ride on male toxicity for commercial gain. Maybe use your ‘virtue signalling’ in your work? https://t.co/WIkF0mQlRG

— ShutUpSona (@sonamohapatra) December 1, 2019

Others were also critical of Vanga’s tweet. “That’s rich coming from you!” one person wrote. “Make movies like Arjun Reddy and Kabir Singh, glorify toxic masculinity and tweet about fear. Not nice.” wrote another. 

On Monday, Samajwadi Party leader and actor Jaya Bachchan said that those accused of rape must be lynched. Others who have commented on the incident are actors Akshay Kumar, Richa Chadha and Farhan Akhtar, among others.