Kiran Rao Tops Sandeep Vanga: 'Laapataa Ladies' Smashes 'Animal' On Netflix

In a sweet twist of fate, Kiran Rao's modest drama ‘Laapataa Ladies’ has emerged as an unlikely Netflix champion, outperforming Sandeep Reddy Vanga's star-studded and controversial ‘Animal’ on the streaming platform. This victory comes after Vanga aimed unsavoury comments at Rao earlier this year.

Kiran Rao Beats Sandeep Reddy Vanga On Netflix

While ‘Animal,’ starring Ranbir Kapoor, shattered box office records with a staggering ₹900 crore global haul after its December theatrical release, ‘Laapataa Ladies’ amassed a modest ₹20 crore following its March debut. However, the tables have turned on Netflix. ‘Laapataa Ladies’ has racked up 13.8 million views since its premiere last month, surpassing ‘Animal's 13.6 million views in its first three weeks.

Not only has Rao's film remained in Netflix's Top 10 for a week longer than ‘Animal,’ but it has also consistently ranked in the Top 5. As per Netflix, its viewership hours have steadily increased each week, peaking at 11.6 million in week three. In contrast, ‘Animal’ debuted strongly at #4 with 20 million viewership hours but dropped to #8 before exiting the Top 10.

While the Oscar-nominated Spanish film ‘Society of the Snow’ set a high benchmark with 68 million viewership hours in week two, ‘Laapataa Ladies’ has outperformed fellow Indian releases like Hrithik Roshan's ‘Fighter,’ which debuted with 16 million viewership hours.

Don't Miss: Laapataa Ladies Review: All You Need To Know About Kiran Rao's Movie Intriguing Storyline

Kiran Rao vs Sandeep Reddy Vanga Controversy

Video : https://t.co/1szMafErdFpic.twitter.com/WG6B3GZJyJ

— R (@poeticbirdie) February 2, 2024

Rao's triumph follows a public spat with Vanga, who called her "that woman" in an interview with Dainik Bhaskar after she addressed misogyny in his films. "Today morning, my AD showed me an article. It is of the second ex-wife of a superstar. She is saying that films like Bahubaali 2 and Kabir Singh promote misogyny and stalking. I think she does not know the difference between stalking and approaching. When people read these things out of context, they tend to agree. This is entirely wrong."

Rao clarified to The Quint, “I haven’t commented on Mr Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s films because I have not seen them. I have often spoken on misogyny and the representation of women on screen, and I have talked about it on various platforms and at various times. But I have never taken the name of any film because it is not really about the specific films, it is about the issues. I will continue to speak on these issues. So, why Mr Vanga Reddy has assumed that I am talking about his film, you will have to ask him,” she said, adding that if the Animal director had something to say to Aamir Khan, he should do so directly.

"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," she said, adding that if the Animal director had something to say to Aamir Khan, he should do so directly: "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."

The Quint's @swati_chopra caught up with #KiranRao, the director of #LaapataaLadies and spoke to her about the film, her opinion on patriarchy, and more.

Read more: https://t.co/FnBuaysc49pic.twitter.com/V5SppLJbhh

— The Quint (@TheQuint) March 6, 2024

Don't Miss: Crew OTT Release: When And Where To Watch The Kareena Kapoor, Tabu And Kriti Sanon Heist Comedy Drama

For more such stories, stay tuned to HerZindagi

Herzindagi.com is Jagran New Media's gender and lifestyle vertical, catering to women of all age groups, helping them remain updated, on-trend and aware. To improve our performance and understand our readers' interests better, we have created this poll. This will take 2 minutes of your time, do help us out with this link.