In the 1990s, Kannada actor-director Upendra made unconventional and problematic films like 'A' and 'Om' by playing aggressive, perverse alpha male characters and directing misogynistic films filled with physical/verbal abuses against women. His films and dialogues became popular even among the Telugu audience, who enjoyed watching his Telugu-dubbed movies in theatres and on satellite TV.
At a time when 'Animal' has been blasted by feminists and many film critics, Sandeep Reddy Vanga's fans are urging him to ape Upendra to offend the critics even more.
But why on earth do they want Vanga to make unhinged movies like Upendra did? In one of his films, Upendra makes out with a mother and a daughter (on two separate occasions) by enticing them into adopting the ideology of sexual liberation. If Vanga's fans are his well-wishers, they wouldn't want such crassness to be shown in today's films.
Upendra was targeting a pretty much sex-deprived set of audiences. That's not the case today. A lot of men and women have access to pornography and satiate their urges by watching them.
Surprisingly, a section of the fandom of Upendra feels that Vanga is nothing compared to the Sandalwood talent (which is a positive, not a negative). "Upendra is once in a lifetime talent. Upendra ran, so Vanga can walk. Three decades later, I still don’t think anyone can write the stories he wrote and make those films hit. Upendra makes Sandeep look like an amateur and Upendra did it without any arrogance," a fan of Upendra wrote.
