Ram Gopal Varma says blaming films for violence is like blaming Ramayana for kidnappings

Ram Gopal Varma defended films featuring violence after social media users linked a scene from Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Animal to a chainsaw attack at an Andhra Pradesh school. Varma said blaming films for violence was like blaming Ramayana for kidnappings.

Mumbai: Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma, who is known for his bold statements, has reacted to the criticism of films which allegedly normalise and promote violence.

On Sunday, the filmmaker took to his X, formerly Twitter, and said that the anger towards films with violent content is often misdirected.

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He wrote, “Blaming films for rise in violence is like blaming Ramayana for rise in kidnappings”.

For context, a recent shocking chainsaw attack sent shockwaves inside a school in Raptadu, Anantapur district, Andhra Pradesh. A 21-year-old man, identified as Hemanth, allegedly entered a Class 10 classroom and attacked a 15-year-old girl with a chainsaw.

Another student, Lakshmi, sustained injuries while attempting to protect her classmate. Preliminary police investigations have suggested that the accused, reportedly a relative of the victim, had stalked her and attacked her after she rejected his advances. The primary victim is undergoing treatment at Manipal Hospital in Bengaluru and was reported stable.

Following the attack, several social media users criticised filmmaker Sandeep Reddy Vanga, and the scene from his directorial ‘Animal’ starring Ranbir Kapoor, in which the actor walks into a school classroom carrying a loaded gun. The scene is now being discussed again in the context of the shocking attack at the school.

One user wrote, “When Dhruv Rathee called out Aditya Dhar and Sandeep Reddy Vanga for glorifying violence and propaganda through films like Dhurandhar, the right-wing went after him with abuse. And now we’re witnessing the kind of consequences that come from normalising hatred and glorifying violence. But In India questioning cinema is a bigger crime than questioning the mindset it promotes”.

Another user wrote, “Vanga’s Animal has a scene where Ranbir Kapoor walks into a classroom with an AK47. This is what such movies lead to. When will directors like Sandeep Reddy Vanga and actors like Ranbir Kapoor be held responsible for poisoning young minds?”.

A 3rd user wrote, “It’s genuinely scary to look at real world horrors, and then see people defending sandeep Vanga projecting extreme, unhinged violence as “manly” or peak alpha behaviour glorifying this madness on screen is actively rotting our basic human empathy”.

RGV has been a vocal supporter of the ‘Animal’ director, and has often publicly praised Sandeep, and his style of filmmaking, who himself idolises RGV.

Meanwhile, the accused has been traced, and taken into custody at Dharmavaram.