'Deep-seated need for power': Animal director Sandeep Reddy Vanga faces criticism from screenwriter Gazal Dhaliwal

Screenwriter Gazal Dhaliwal took to Instagram on Thursday to criticise Animal director Sandeep Reddy Vanga. She mentioned that while Sandeep has written the story of Animal, three other writers have co-written the screenplay and dialogues of the Ranbir Kapoor starrer.

Hyderabad: Sandeep Reddy Vanga, director of the blockbuster Animal, has been criticised by Gazal Dhaliwal, well-known as the screenwriter of the Netflix India show Mismatched, for not sharing the screenplay credits of the Ranbir Kapoor starrer and for claiming all the attention as the 'writer-editor-director' of the movie.

Taking to her Instagram handle on Thursday, Gazal shared a post from the movie's opening credits, which displayed Sandeep's name as the 'Writer-Editor-Director'. Although arriving at the discussion a bit late, she offered a 'seemingly small insight' about Sandeep, specifically from the perspective of a screenwriter.

Gazal wrote that certain directors insist on taking the 'Writer' title in the top credit of their film, even when there are other writers responsible for the screenplay and dialogues. "It happens a lot, by the way, in our world. These filmmakers have a deep-seated need for power. Even though being a director is the most powerful anyway... for some reason, it would seem that claiming the ‘Writer’ credit is what gives them the biggest high," she wrote.

Furthermore, she highlighted that while Sandeep has written the story and should rightfully receive credit for that, the other co-writers of the screenplay, his brother Pranay Reddy Vanga and Suresh Bandaru, as well as the writer of the dialogues, Saurabh Gupta, are ignored.

Gazal further shared that, despite various aspects of the film that she found concerning, she felt 'compelled' to address a different issue. She specifically reflected on a scene in the film where the protagonist, played by Ranbir Kapoor, tells his love interest, Geetanjali (portrayed by Rashmika Mandanna), that historically, women have been attracted to alpha males. Consequently, beta males have resorted to using poetry to divert female attention from the alphas.

She continued, "And I couldn’t help but think – how small, how very petty of this alpha male, who is cooking up words to seduce the woman. By the way, a poet, as we all know, is a ‘Writer’. Which also happens to be a credit some filmmakers find difficult to share." Meanwhile, it is worth noting that Gazal has also co-written Homi Adajania's upcoming crime thriller, Murder Mubarak.