The Rapthadu school incident in Andhra Pradesh has sent shock waves across the nation. The heinous crime has also raised serious questions about the safety of children, law and order, and other alarming issues.
However, there's been a debate going on that films influence a larger part of society, especially regarding the increase in violence against women and children.
Many people are arguing that films like Arjun Reddy, Animal, Dhurandhar and many other films have a strong influence on society, especially on young men to carelessly go and resort to violence.
Time and again, Sandeep Reddy is unnecessarily dragged into issues whenever such incidents happen. Even now, people are finding fault with his films, saying his depiction of hero characters is imprinting a negative influence on society. People are calling out the way he depicts violence on the big screen.
However, Sandeep reacted strongly, saying that whenever a tragedy happens, we must understand the larger problem rather than conveniently blaming cinema and its makers.
The fact is, violence exists in Sandeep's films and many other movies. However, these filmmakers never depicted anything with the intention of influencing any section of society. These movies also contain positive elements that advocate for good by the end. It is up upto the viewer what he or she can take from a film, given his or her psychological ability to understand cinema.
If something goes wrong, we must understand and analyze the person who committed the crime from a psychological perspective rather than blame the medium. Unfortunately, no one wants to understand the root cause of a problem and instead conveniently blames a film or a filmmaker for egoistic pleasure.
This isn't the first time something like this has happened, but at least this time, Sandeep has spoken strongly, highlighting the reality.
'When someone commits a heinous crime, the first response should be empathy & an attempt to understand the larger problem. Not finding a convenient scapegoat in cinema. It is becoming increasingly clear that your concern is not for the victims or their families, but that you're using a horrific tragedy as a dirty excuse to settle your personal scores. This is especially directed at those failed, frustrated, jobless male/female actors, a few directors, producers & parasites, who suddenly appoint themselves as social reformers whenever an opportunity arises to take a dig at someone else's work. A tragedy deserves empathy, not opportunism. Learn the difference,' wrote Sandeep.