In 2006, a young girl from Himachal surprised everyone with her impeccable performance in the film Gangster. With an innocent-looking face and doe eyes, flaunting her stubbornly perfect curls, Kangana Ranaut became the national crush. Along with many national awards, she also won a place in the film industry.
Kangana Ranaut- the actress
Kangana Ranaut established herself in the industry as a skilled actress with a distinct taste for good cinema. She delivered many notable hits, from Tanu Weds Manu to Queen, films which shook the foundation of traditional cinema. Ranaut also became one of the few Bollywood actresses who could attract the audience.
Ranaut as an actress was a whirlwind to be reckoned with but her success was soon followed by her downfall. The audience who would bet on Ranaut’s choice of films started leaving the theatre disappointed. After repeated flops, Kangana started fading as a star.
Manikarnika, a film that few watched but everybody knew, marked her pride as an artist. In the infamous fight between her and the director Krish, she ultimately asserted her rights as a celebrity and affected the entire creation of the film. The claims of her snatching credits of other artists go beyond this film, even the writers of Simran claimed that she did not acknowledge their credits.
The fall of the actor
‘The greater the artist, the greater the doubt. Perfect confidence is granted to the less talented as a consolation prize.’
Robert Hughes
Kangana’s downfall as an actor was catalysed by her pride and the belief that what she did was the best. Her statements were vile, her appearances toxic and her films failing. Kangana started losing a grip on the industry, and she resorted to playing the victim.
Kangana Ranaut was soon seen on every TV channel, not for her performance, but for her romantic affair with Hrithik Roshan. While many sided with her, many criticised the need to air her dirty laundry in public.
The Queen actor then called out nepotism in an episode of Koffee with Karan. The actress never shied away from expressing her views, but her in-your-face attitude only grew to get more aggressive with every passing interview. She also then continued to claim that her unveiling of the inherent nepotism in Bollywood was the primary reason she wasn’t receiving many acting projects anymore.
She never stopped acting and making films though, she just changed her tune and started focusing on nationalist films. Her recent films have failed at the box office and she has turned to direction. Her directorial debut Emergency is set to release in April 2024, an anticipated film that could just be another propaganda film in the milieu of the elections.
Nursing nationalism
The Fashion star has recently been spotted in sarees and pearls. Her minimal makeup, neatly pulled hair, and saffron-coloured heart are but nursing grounds for nationalism. The films that she now stars in are also based on the same theme. They are distorted with a specific propaganda of establishing fanatic nationalism as supreme.
Kangana Ranaut found the perfect way out of Bollywood in joining the forces of fanatic nationalism and Hindu supremacy.
Her sudden change of wardrobe has also been explained by her in a few interviews where she relegates it to going local and promoting nationalism. Kangana Ranaut found the perfect way out of Bollywood in joining the forces of fanatic nationalism and Hindu supremacy.
Modi bhakti
The veiled attempt to side with the right-wing became apparent when in a TV channel summit, Kangana said that real freedom came to India in 2014. She said that the freedom given to India in 1947 was a ‘bheek’ or ‘alms.’ The November 2021 summit established her as a devout supporter of the ruling government.
Since then, Kangana has shown unapologetic support towards the prime minister’s policies. Her appearance at political events, religious events, and her saffron-coloured tweets had all but paved the way for her BJP candidature for the Lok Sabha elections 2024.
Spreading hate
Kangana’s public comments have had a history of spewing hatred towards her colleagues and non-BJP governments. In May 2021, an FIR was filed against Kangana Ranaut for spreading hate propaganda and inciting communal violence in West Bengal. She took a dig at the Bengal Chief Minister while responding to the post-poll violence in West Bengal. The comments led to her account on X being suspended for two years.
In 2020, the Mumbai Chief Minister got involved in demolishing Kangana’s production house in Mumbai. The demolition notice for illegal construction was issued after Kangana had compared Mumbai to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The same year, she went ahead and called Urmila Matondkar, a ‘soft porn star’ in a TV interview.
During the Farmer’s protest of 2020-21, she termed farmers ‘terrorists.’
During the Farmer’s protest of 2020-21, she termed farmers ‘terrorists.’ She also wrongfully identified an old woman at the farmer’s protest as Bilkis Dadi. She posted on X, ‘She is the same old lady who was featured in Time magazine for being the most powerful woman.’ The controversy involved Diljit Dosanjh in a bitter war of words with Kangana on X.
The becoming of a politician
The becoming of a politician is an excruciatingly painful and long process. It involves dedicated siding with a party’s philosophy and making unsubstantiated reverential comments about the narcissist in power. Kangana Ranaut’s political journey is also riddled with the junctures that have prompted her current candidature.
Kangana Ranaut’s electoral debut for the Lok Sabha elections 2024 was announced in the fifth list of BJP candidates. She has been nominated from the high-profile Mandi Lok Sabha constituency. Her candidature faces challenges from BJP dissidents like the BJP state president Maheshwar Singh and royal families.
Her candidature comes with a renewed vigour and hatred against nepotism and all things non-BJP. Matching the tune of her party she makes comments from the rally grounds such as, ‘It is not that my father or husband is the chief minister and I have joined politics.’ She refers directly to Pratibha Singh and Vikramaditya Singh, the wife and son of Virbhadra Singh. They belong to the royal family that has maintained their dominance over the coveted Lok Sabha seat.
The disgruntled leaders
The state leaders from BJP and Congress have shown discontent towards Ranaut’s candidature. The BJP state president Maheshwar Singh has asked the party’s high command to review its decision as Ranaut has had no contribution towards the party. Congress State Chief and sitting MP from Mandi seat Pratibha Singh who had earlier withdrawn from the race has changed her stance after Ranaut’s candidature was announced.
There is a unanimous sense of reluctance towards Kangana Ranaut’s candidature as the BJP face for Mandi Lok Sabha seat.
There is a unanimous sense of reluctance towards Kangana Ranaut’s candidature as the BJP face for Mandi Lok Sabha seat.
Kangana Ranaut- a daughter, a sister
The young girl who had left her native place in 2006 to pursue her dreams of becoming a Bollywood star has returned to represent her people in the Lok Sabha elections. She calls herself ‘a daughter and sister’ of Mandi and claims that she was constantly “bullied” in Bollywood for hailing from Himachal Pradesh.
Politics in India comes with the burden of ethnicity and pity, and Ranaut tries to pull both at the first step of her political career. Playing the religion card, she also reminds the people of Mandi how she has ‘constructed a small Devi temple’ in her village and has ‘built a house in Manali.’
While Kangana strived hard to reach this pinnacle, her name is being resonated with Modi. The workers in her rally chanted, ‘Kangana jo ko Jai Shri Ram…Modi ji ko Jai Shri Ram.’ With a dainty saree and pearl adorning her neck, the culturally appropriate Kangana claimed from the stage, ‘Tohaan koi nahin sochna Kangana star hai, Kangana tumhari beti hai, behen hai.’
Kangana Ranaut is the golden child of the Hindu right wing. She has been carefully moulded into a politician to the point that she claimed for herself that she has a ‘glorious right-wing personality.’ In a celebratory stance, she said ‘Regardless of whether I am a party member or not, I have always fought for the party’s cause…my natural alignment and ideology is with a nationalist government.’
Kangana Ranaut in her rallies classified herself as the daughter of Mandi and played the victim card by hoping that the people of Mandi won’t ‘crucify’ her like the film industry. She urges them to be more lenient with her.
Kangana’s rise as a politician is the sad reality of our society. A woman who was known to spew hatred on other women calling them average, soft porn stars, or mediocre, is now calling herself a daughter and seeking electoral support. Right-wing politics is fashioned on this hate and whoever suits the narrative is nominated as a candidate irrespective of their ideological acumen.
Ranaut’s candidature also explains her receiving prestigious government awards in the past. If this is how easily Lok Sabha candidatures are distributed then we are set to witness many more cross-discourse nominations that affect the politics and the world of art. At this time, it is important to remember that art must always be a critic of the power and not a stooge.
Utter nonsense and a Left wing supporter talking about all these things look at the audacity of this guna vats lady who cant even achieve 1/4th of KR is talking about her..!!