Kiran Rao defends Aamir Khan from Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s claim of misogyny

Filmmaker Kiran Rao has responded to Animal director Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s claim that she hasn’t flagged the misogyny in her ex-husband and actor Aamir Khan’s ‘90s movies. In an interview with The Quint, she addressed Sandeep’s statement that Kiran should “check their own surroundings” before criticising movies directed by him, like his 2019 directorial Kabir Singh. (Also Read: Aamir Khan says he’s open to doing romantic films: ‘Thoda suitable hona chahiye’)
Kiran argued that Aamir Khan is one of the few actors who’ve gone on to apologoise for the misogyny in their past work. She claimed that in an episode of his TV show Satyamev Jayate, he apologised on record for the suggestive song Khambe Jaisi Khadi Hai, filmed on him and Madhuri Dixit in Indra Kumar’s 1990 romantic film Dil. “There are very few people who would look back at their body of work and apologise for doing something problematic in retrospect. And that’s really laudable,” Kiran said in the interview.
“If Mr. Vanga has something to tell Aamir, he should tell him man to man. I’m not responsible for Aamir’s work or Aamir Khan. I wish Mr. Reddy would address his questions directly to Mr. Khan,” Kiran said. She and Aamir divorced in 2021 after 16 years of marriage. They co-parent a son, Azad, and continue to work together. Aamir is co-producing Kiran’s upcoming directorial, Laapataa Ladies. She also participated in his daughter Ira Khan’s recent wedding festivities.
In the interview, Kiran also clarified that she never directly mentioned Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s movies when she addressed misogyny in Bollywood films. She said she hasn’t seen his work so doesn’t know why he would assume she directed her criticism towards his films. Kiran added that she’s always attacked misogyny and will continue to do so.
On Monday, the official X handle of Animal posted in response to Kiran’s above remark, “We neither our Director Mr @imvangasandeep are making any assumptions Miss @ikiranrao! It’s a fact reported by a very big media channel.”
Previously, Kiran mentioned films like Sandeep’s 2019 romantic movie Kabir Singh and SS Rajamouli’s 2015 action epic Baahubali: The Beginning as films laced with misogyny that went on to become blockbusters. Sandeep responded to her claim by asking her to comment on Aamir’s past work, in films like Dil.