Kangana Ranaut is the reigning queen of Bollywood. Apart from her acting talent, the actress is also known for her outspoken nature and fearlessness. From waging war against the media to speaking against a co-star, the Judgementall Hai Kya actress has never shied away from making her point. At the Mind Rocks Delhi 2019, Kangana spoke at the session Never Say Die: The Queen of Reinvention.
Kangana Ranaut at Mind Rocks Delhi 2019.
The actress talked about how success affects a person. She said, “the higher you go, the more enemies you make.”
Talking about how money is not related to success, Kangana said, “Kahneen na kaheen ye misconception hai ki jiske paas money hai woh successful hai. Success has nothing to do with money. When I make money I don’t think about success. When I make money, I simply, shamelessly make money. Anybody can earn money. Success is when you set out to do something. Suppose if today I set out to remove plastics from the sea and if I successfully do that. Is this success more than the success of a superstar or the President of India, maybe yes. Would that have helped you make money? No. But making money is about making money. When I make money, I shamelessly make money. So, you should be honest with yourself.”
The Tanu Weds Manu actress also talked about how is it to be a filmstar, she said, “The life of a filmstar is very extreme. The higher you go there are more expectations, you are at more stake. The more you are successful, there are things at stake. There are more enemies and people who want you to pull you down. I think it is with every profession. So it’s no different than that.”
Kangana Ranaut was last seen in Prakash Kovelamudi’s Judgementall Hai Kya with Rajkummar Rao. The film received mixed reviews, but couldn’t create magic with its box office numbers. She will be next seen in Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari’s Panga. In the film, the actress is playing the role of a kabaddi player.
Also watch: Kangana Ranaut dazzles at Miss Diva 2019 event
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In pics: Kangana Ranaut’s biggest controversies
Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut has not only delivered hit movies like “Gangster” (2006), “Fashion” (2008), “Tanu Weds Manu” (2011) and “Queen” (2014) but also never shielded away from speaking her mind. Here are some of the biggest controversies that involved the talented and versatile actress.
Ranaut accused actor Aditya Pancholi of physically assaulting her and keeping her in house arrest when they were allegedly in a relationship. “It was a very difficult and very harsh time. I was physically abused. This man who was my father’s age hit me hard on my head when I was 17,” she reportedly said at a press conference, revealing later at a talk show that she was talking about Pancholi. She also filed a police complaint against him.
Her break-up with “Raaz: The Mystery Continues” (2009) co-star Adhyayan Suman came into limelight after Suman and his family reportedly accused her of performing black magic on him. He further said, “I was emotionally badgered because of my relationship. Kangana only knows how to use, abuse and throw. I have remained silent on her abusive nature for so many years, but she is crossing all limits now. Since I haven’t been taking her calls, her aides have been calling my mother and harassing her.”
Reports of her dating Ajay Devgn started doing the rounds while they were filming “Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai” in 2010. Later, during an interview, Ranaut admitted that she shouldn’t have dated a married man and it was a mistake on her part.
After Deepika Padukone won the Best Popular Actress of 2014 award for “Happy New Year,” she dedicated it to Ranaut for her performance in “Queen.” However, the gesture didn’t go down very well with Ranaut and when asked, she said, “Yes, I heard about that, but I hope someday, she would tell me in person what she feels about my work. I would appreciate that a lot more.”
Their relationship reportedly strained again after Padukone failed to attend Ranaut’s special screening of “Tanu Weds Manu Returns” (2015), even though the latter did attend the screening of Padukone’s “Piku” (2015). When asked about it, she said, “I did extend an invite to Deepika, but I never got a response. I have always been supportive of my contemporaries and will continue to be, but it is hurtful when you don’t get the same kind of support.”
Her spat with actor Hrithik Roshan, which involved multiple allegations and a legal battle, became a huge subject of discussion in the film industry and media. They were rumored to be dating while shooting for “Krrish 3” (2013). While Ranaut claimed they were romantically involved, Roshan repeatedly denied being in a relationship. Things took an ugly twist after both filed lawsuits against each other.
In 2016, reports emerged that Ranaut was removed from the film “Aashiqui 3” after Roshan – who was supposed to star opposite her – refused to work with her. When the actress was asked about the same, she retorted, “Yes, many lame rumours are doing rounds, even a dumb a** can tell where these rumours are coming from. I don’t know why exes do silly things to get your attention. For me that chapter is over and I don’t dig graves.” Roshan then tweeted, “Ther r more chances of me having had an affair with d Pope dan any of d (Im sure wonderful)women d media hs ben naming.Thanks but no thanks.” This was followed by a barrage of lawsuits and disclosure of email exchanges between the two.
During the release of her 2017 movie “Simran,” she was accused by the film’s writer Apurva Asrani of stealing writing credits. Ranaut had reportedly said that she and the film’s director Hansal Mehta developed the story from scratch, and she was also credited as ‘additional dialogue and story writer,’ which didn’t go down well with Asrani.
She fueled the nepotism debate after an appearance on the talk show “Koffee with Karan,” where she dubbed host Karan Johar the flag-bearer of nepotism and movie mafia. The actress said during the episode, “In my biopic, if ever it’s made, you’ll play that stereotypical Bollywood biggie, who is like you know…very snooty and completely intolerant towards outsiders, flag bearer of nepotism, the movie mafia.” Her comment left everyone from Bollywood stars to the media talking about nepotism.
In the midst of the #MeToo movement, she came out with her story of harassment against “Queen” director Vikas Bahl. The actress said, “Every time we met, socially greeted and hugged each other, he (Bahl) would bury his face in my neck, hold me really tight and breathe in the smell of my hair. It took me great amount of strength and effort to pull myself out of his embrace. He’d say ‘I love how you smell K.’”
During a summit, actress Sonam Kapoor was asked to comment on Ranaut’s allegations against Bahl, to which she said, “Kangana is obviously Kangana Ranaut. She says a lot of stuff and sometimes is hard to take her seriously. I love the fact that she has spunk and she says what she believes. I really respect her for that. I don’t know him, I don’t know the situation. If what is written is true, then it’s disgusting and awful. If it’s true, then they should be punished for it.”
Kapoor’s comment didn’t go down well with Ranaut and she lashed out at her, saying, “What does she mean by saying, ‘It’s hard to believe Kangana’? When I am sharing my Me Too story, who gives her a right to judge me? So, Sonam Kapoor has the license of trusting some women and some she won’t. What makes her so unsure of my claims? I am known to be an articulate person and I have represented my country in many international summits. I am called as a thought and youth influencer to these summits, I am not known because of my dad, I have earned my place and credibility after struggling for a decade.”
In an interview, she slammed Alia Bhatt, Deepika Padukone, Anushka Sharma and other top actresses for ignoring her existence in the film industry. “I don’t feel so threatened by anyone around. You know, like, you see I will praise Alia or I would praise Anushka or I would praise everyone. I never shied away from going to Deepika’s ‘Piku’ trial. Everyone I have praised in my capacity. Sonakshi’s ‘Lootera’ I saw and the whole year I praised her. I don’t get threatened,” she said.
She added, “Why don’t I see same sort of…why is everyone like, ‘Oh, oh, oh she doesn’t exist?’ Why is that going on? I exist. My film has crossed millions and millions of views and it is one of the most promising films of this year. So when they pretend I don’t exist…nobody ever talks about my teasers or trailers.”
During the ongoing #MeToo movement, Ranaut also hit out at Roshan for making false promises to get into a relationship. She said in a statement, “There are men who make false promises of love and marriage to a girl to get them into a relationship that is also a type of harassment. There are married men who keep their wives as trophies and keep young girls as their mistresses like Hrithik. They lure young beautiful girls with the promise of marriage and later try to prove them mad. Nobody should work with such people. They should be boycotted.”
Her film “Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi” (2019) was surrounded by controversy even before filming started after her co-actor Sonu Sood walked out of the movie post his fallout with Ranaut. “Sonu and I haven’t even met since the last shot with Krish (director) last year. He is busy filming ‘Simmba.’ He couldn’t even give us tentative dates to match combinations with other actors. The producers showed him the film and writers narrated the patchwork to him. He refused to meet me. He vehemently denied to work under a woman director, which is kind of amusing because Sonu is a dear friend and I have even launched the music of a film that he produced at his request,” the actress said about her showdown with Sood.
Sood reacted to the comment by saying, “Kangana is a dear friend and she will always remain one but this constant playing the woman card, the victim card and making this entire issue about male chauvinism is ridiculous. The gender of the director is not the issue. Competence is. Let’s not confuse the two. I’ve worked with Farah Khan who’s a competent woman director and Farah and I had a great professional equation and we are still best of friends. That’s all I would like to say.”
The Karni Sena, a Rajput fringe group, opposed the release of “Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi” and threatened of consequences if the movie tried to malign the image of Rani Laxmi Bai. The actress hit back by saying,” “Four historians have certified ‘Manikarnika,’ we have got censor certificate as well, Karni Sena has been conveyed this but they are continuing to harass me. If they don’t stop then they should know I am also a Rajput and I will destroy each one of them.”
While promoting her film “Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi,” she was asked if a certain dialogue was picked from Hrithik Roshan’s 2016 film “Mohenjo Daro,” to which she replied, “Who has seen that film? Let’s not even get there.”
In the wake of the Pulwama attack on Feb. 14, 2019 that killed 40 Indian soldiers, Ranaut cancelled the success party of her film “Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi.” She also described celebrity couple Shabana Azmi and Javed Akhtar as “anti-nationals,” despite the two calling of a visit to Pakistan.
Ranaut said, “People like Shabana Azmi calling for halt on cultural exchange — they are the ones who promote Bharat Tere Tukde Honge gangs… why did they organise an event in Karachi in the first place when Pakistani artistes have been banned after Uri attacks? And now they are trying to save face? The film industry is full of such anti-nationals who boost enemies’ morals in many ways, but right now is the time to focus on decisive actions… Pakistan ban is not the focus, Pakistan destruction is.”
Azmi responded, “You really think at a time like this a personal attack on me can be of any significance when the entire country stands as one in our grief and in condemning this dastardly Pulwama attack? May God bless her.”
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