Sandeep Reddy Vanga on slap scene: Preeti ne pehle maari, phir Kabir ne. How do I explain to idiots?

Kabir Singh director Sandeep Reddy Vanga is in the eye of a storm for his controversial comments during an interview with Film Companion. "When you are deeply connected with a woman or vice versa, there is a lot of honesty in it. If you don't have that physical demonstration of...if you don't have that liberty of slapping each other, then I don't see anything there," he said.

Now, in an interview with Bollywood Hungama, the filmmaker has clarified that he was misquoted. "I had to say what I had to say. And then they cut out portions of my comments so that people don't know what I said before and after some of the comments that have created a controversy. The content was edited in a very wrong way. So that a section of women got another chance to attack me," he said.

"But, I was trying to explain my protagonist's mindset. How Arjun Reddy/Kabir Singh feels is not exactly what I feel. Violence may be his way of expressing love. It's not mine," he added.

Sandeep also slammed those who were judging how Kabir and Preeti express their love. "I never said one 'needs' to slap. All I meant was, one needs to be fully honest in a committed relationship. And that honesty can take on a violent form. And why is only Kabir slapping his girlfriend Preeti being talked about? What about the fact that she too slaps him back? It works both ways," he said.

"How they express their love is their choice. Why are some people judging them? And judging me for the way the characters behaviour? My point is, in a true relationship the emotions can get raw and violent," he added.

When asked if Sandeep would personally resort to violence with his partner, he said, "I would do anything and everything with my partner to make sure I am my real self. I would drop all defenses, pull down all my guards. For me, the essence of a strong relationship is honesty. I wouldn't say I'd slap my partner. Even in the film...how do I explain to the idiots that, 'Preeti ne pehle maari hai, phir Kabir ne maara'. It's pointless to harp on the slap."

Meanwhile, Kabir Singh, which stars Shahid Kapoor and Kiara Advani in the lead roles, is going strong at the box office and is currently marching towards the Rs 250-crore milestone.

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