Sandeep Reddy Vanga studied at Platinum Jubilee High School in Warangal and then moved to Hyderabad, where he completed his schooling. Later, he pursued his bachelor's degree from the SDM College of Physiotherapy in Dharwad, Karnataka.

Although Vanga always harboured an interest in filmmaking, it was during his college years that he realised he wanted to pursue a career in it. After working as an apprentice in Visakhapatnam for the film Manasu Mata Vinadu (2005), he took the plunge into filmmaking with a degree from the Academy of Film, Theatre, and Television, also known as AFTT in Sydney, Australia.

Then, he collaborated with Kiran Kumar for the Tollywood filmKedi (2006) as an assistant director and alongside Kranthi Madhav as an associate director for Malli Malli Idhi Rani Roju (2015). He began drafting the script for his supposed directorial debut, Sugar Factory. Still, he put it on hold to work on Arjun Reddy (2017). The film was produced on a budget of Rs.4-5 crores and went on to collect over Rs. 50 crores ($8 million) at the box office.

Vanga appeared in the biographical movie Mahanati (2018) in a cameo role as Vedantam Raghavayya. The Hindi adaptation of Arjun Reddy, Kabir Singh (2019), was announced the same year, starring Shahid Kapoor and Kiara Advani. He went on to direct the film, which became a blockbuster hit at the box office.

In 2021, he announced a gangster drama titled Hayvan (2023), starring renowned actors like Ranbir Kapoor, Bobby Deol, Anil Kapoor, and Rashmika Mandanna. He also announced another film, link=tt15547882], starring Prabhas.

Vanga won the title of Best Debut Director (Telugu) at the 7th South Indian International Movie Awards in 2018. That year, he also took home the award for Best Debut Director at the 49th Cinegoers Awards.

Vanga tied the knot with Manisha in 2014, and they have two children, a son named Arjun Reddy and a daughter.