Kangana Ranaut has been appreciated and at times criticised for using her ‘woman-card’. But the actor has her definition of feminism on point, and in practice.
Kangana Ranaut is fighting her way through all the phases in her life. She now wants to change the woman’s narrative in our movies. She says, “We have always had female characters where they cry for the men who left them. The roles have always revolved around the male narrative, but this time Hansal Mehta has treated a woman like a human being in Simran. She has her dreams, and is being celebrated with all her flaws.”
Here’s an excerpt from an interview we had with the thirty-year-old Simran actor:
Kangana: No more an outsider, I am the leading face of Bollywood
Kangana Ranaut might have started the nepotism debate when she called Karan Johar the flag-bearer of nepotism. She has also opened up about her struggle as an outsider. But today, the story is different. Kangana feels grounded as an integral part of the industry.
She said, “I am the leading face of Bollywood. I have done some very significant work, and I have received three national awards. My films have done well. Some of the films have broken box-office records. So, how can I be an outsider? I am an integral part of the industry. Let’s see what happens in the future.
Kangana: Rangoon’s failure was my worst nightmare come true
Rangoon flopped at the box-office, and with it Kangana Ranaut almost started questioning herself. However, she came out of it as a person who won’t fall prey to big-banner multi-starrer films.
On this, Kangana said, “I have learnt quite a lot from the failure of Rangoon. I had too many expectations from that film. So, it was like a reality check. I realised that when I had run away from home to come to this city to become an actor, and after all the success, I had started expecting too much from myself. So, this failure taught me that this is wrong. I shouldn’t be obsessed with expectations. It was becoming a vicious cycle. Now, I have a sense of freedom from that. I have built a beautiful house in Manali. When struck by failure, you tend to believe that this is the worst that can happen, people were attacking me left, right and centre. So, Rangoon’s failure was my worst nightmare come true. It shouldn’t have happened, but if something like happens, you stop getting bothered by it all. Now, nothing can bring me down.”
She added, “Obviously, if I choose to work in a film where I am giving all my time, heart and soul, and even the audience has a certain kind of expectations from me, then I would, of course, want to do the leading role. When I haven’t done this, then I have got a very bad end result. Look at my films like Katti Batti or Rangoon. Whenever I have worked with an established actor, that film has not worked. So why work with big stars if it doesn’t yield desired results? I don’t regret it either, because my films do well, and the film’s I didn’t do have also done well. So, it is a great space where there is no competition. The films which came to me, and I rejected were the film’s which were expected to do well. They weren’t like Queen that it would do well out of nowhere.”
Kangana: We have always heard gossip about a woman’s sexual life
Kangana Ranaut has no regrets in life. She says this is the best phase of her life. But she won’t stop fighting bullies.
“There is always stupid, small talks about women. When a woman becomes successful, she is called out saying she slept her way to the top. This is said even when a lady producer is making a big film. It is not just in the industry that it happens, it happens everywhere, and women as always spoken about in this manner. We have always heard gossip about a woman’s sexual life, no one talks about the men that way. My life has been extraordinary. My experiences have been extreme. I am sensitive, very sensitive. It is not that I can never go wrong, or can’t make mistakes. I can say things, and I am open for criticism. But if people are just gossiping about me, or bothering me just like that, or bullying me, then it is not criticism, it is different,” said Kangana.
More pictures of Kangana Ranaut from Simran promotions:
(Source: Varinder Chawla)
(Source: Varinder Chawla)
(Source: Varinder Chawla)
(Source: Varinder Chawla)
(Source: Varinder Chawla)
(Source: Varinder Chawla)
Kangana: We live in a sick society, and feminism is its medicine
Kangana Ranaut has been appreciated and at times criticised for using her ‘woman-card’. But the actor has her definition of feminism on point, and in practice.
She said, “My idea of feminism is that it is equality, right? Feminism is not a concept. Feminism is compensation. It is a subject of discussion these days because eventually, we have to emphasise that men and women are same, that only blood flows through our veins like anybody else’s, and there has to be equal pay for equal work. So, feminism is compensation for a lack in the society. We live in a sick society, and feminism is its medicine.”
