Internet thinks Kiran Rao took a dig at Sandeep Reddy Vanga in Laapataa Ladies

Sandeep Reddy Vanga and Kiran Rao have been involved recently in an exchange of critical commentary, both indirect and direct, primarily over his films.

Kiran’s second directorial Laapataa Ladies recently had its OTT release and many have taken to X (Formerly Twitter) and Reddit to point out a scene in the film that might be a jibe at Sandeep.

More about the scene
In Laapataa Ladies, Phool Kumari (Nitanshi Goel) was left behind at a station and Manju Maai (Chhaya Kadam) reluctantly took her in; she told Phool that her husband could have left her behind at the station on purpose even as the latter defended him. During their discussion, Manju talked about her marriage and told Phool that her husband would beat her. Manju said, “A man who loves you has the right to beat you. One day, I exercised my right as well.”

Twitter and Reddit reactions to the scene
Some on Twitter think the line was a dig at Sandeep, who defended his 2019 Shahid Kapoor-starrer Kabir Singh’s slap scene with a similar line in an interview in 2019 with Film Companion. The director said, “If you can’t touch your woman, wherever you want, and if you can’t slap, you can’t kiss, you can’t use cuss words. I don’t see the emotion there.”

Sharing screenshots of the Laapataa Ladies scene, an X user wrote, “Kiran Rao bodied Sandeep Reddy Vanga.” Sharing a post on Reddit, a person asked, “A direct slap on Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s face?” Many reacted to it.

One redditor wrote, “That is exactly what I thought when I saw this scene!” Another commented, “Didn’t Rashmika Mandanna’s character slap Ranbir Singh’s Ranvijay multiple times in Animal? I think for Vanga, slapping or hitting is part of love, man or woman doesn’t matter. And I agree, its not correct either way.”

What Sandeep said about Kiran recently
In a 2024 interview with Dainik Bhaskar, Sandeep slammed Kiran Rao’s old comment in which she called out certain films for blurring the line between stalking and wooing, without naming Kabir Singh. He told Dainik Bhaskar in 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.”

Sandeep dismissed Kiran’s concern with whataboutery, referencing her ex-husband Aamir Khan’s 1990 film Dil. “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 back to me. If you remember Dil, he almost creates the situation towards an attempted rape, and it makes her realise that she was wrong. She ultimately falls in love. What is all this? I don’t understand why they attack like that before checking the surroundings,” Sandeep said.