Blockbuster filmmaker Sandeep Reddy Vanga, who scaled new peaks at the box office with the Hindi film Animal (2023) starring Ranbir Kapoor, Rashmika Mandanna, and Bobby Deol, is set to begin his next big venture titled Spirit with Telugu superstar Prabhas. The hit director, who debuted in Telugu with Arjun Reddy (2017) and subsequently remade the film in Hindi under the title Kabir Singh (2019), recently sat down for a candid conversation with National Award-winning film critic Baradwaj Rangan and opened up on how he was offered a Hollywood remake with Prabhas before they decided to do Spirit.
Speaking about how he and Prabhas came on board for Spirit, Sandeep Reddy Vanga said, "Right after Arjun Reddy started and during Kabir Singh, the thought of Animal was there. I never thought about any other story. But, in the pandemic, we got so many breaks. So, in between one of the breaks, I was offered a film from Prabhas garu. It didn't materialize. This was before Animal. So, I said, 'If anything original strikes, I'll come and tell you the idea. Then, we'll take it.' We got a Hollywood remake. He asked me, 'We should do, if at you're interested, there's a Hollywood remake. Let's do it.' I said, 'It's not working for me. The Hollywood remake. I think an original thought will be great on you rather than doing a Hollywood remake.' And, then I said, 'Anna, if at all something great strikes to me, I'll come and narrate.' Then, I was already in the process of Animal. And, [during the] pandemic, so many breaks happened. Suddenly, something literally striked and I called and I met and I told him that 'this is the title. This is what the arena of the story is. This is the character.' He said, 'That's it. Let's do it.' This is Spirit. This just happened for the particular time period I was in that mood and I got back to writing Animal. I went to Bombay and finished Animal. I came back. Now, again, I'm in the writing process. I narrated to him like two and a half years back."
Watch Sandeep Reddy Vanga in conversation with Baradwaj Rangan in the video below:
