Kangana Ranaut: "Hrithik Will Never Be Where I Am And Karan Johar Needs Chawanprash"

Actor Kangana Ranaut was in her usual take-no-prisoners mode as she went on to say that “The Mr Johars” of Bollywood will end up looking like a “bunch of idiots” one day. The Manikarnika actor was speaking at the India Today Conclave in Delhi and commented on everything from nepotism, her dispute with Hrithik Roshan and more.

According to a report on India Today, Stressing on the need for chyawanprash for Karan, Kangana spoke about an incident, “Karan mocked me on the IIFA stage and said that I am jobless and I am looking for jobs from him or something like that. I mean, look at my talent and look at your movies. I mean, really? He really called me jobless on some platform? I think some people need a dose of chyawanprash.”

The actor made it clear that despite her clashes with so many celebrities, she doesn’t feel left out at all. She went on to say, “ I really feel I stand out. When you talk about actresses, here’s a three-time National Award-winning actress. The Mr Johars of the world try to present a list of people whose acting abilities are questionable. It’s brain-feeding of another magnitude.”

“There was a time when we liked bell-bottoms and neon shades that people wore in the 70s but when we look back, we find it funny. This is what is going to happen to these people. They are going to look like idiots.” she added.

The actor also spoke about how Hrithik has completely denied even knowing her. Giving her justification, Kangana said, “Talking about this so-called case which never actually happened, here’s a person I have worked with in two films. He is completely denying even knowing me and getting away with it. How does that even happen?” She went on to add, “This is absurd. Even to think that you can get away with something like that is in itself a sign of powerdrunkness.”

On being asked how she would react if she swapped places with Karan and Hrithik, she said, “He will never be where I am.”

The actor said the system in place in Bollywood helps people with privilege and repels when it is challenged and her many fallouts in the industry happened because she was always presented do-or-die situations in which she always fought her survival.

“I come from a situation where I really do not have a backup plan. I don’t have a plan B. It’s not like I wake up in the morning and think about ‘Oh wait a minute. How many people can I offend today and how to make my life difficult?’ That’s not how it is.

“... The kind of story I have I wasn’t left with an option. I wish they did. I wish they let me do my thing and I wish there wasn’t this do or die situation. I would have preferred it like that. But if one of us has to do die I will make sure that it is not me,” Kangana said.

A couple of her past few films have been plagued by controversies. Her 2017 film Simran was marred by a spat between her and screenwriter Apurva Asrani, who claimed that she poached his writing credit.

Her latest release Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi was also embroiled in multiple controversies.

Kangana said the credit for her success is hers only as she is the only actor in the film industry “who has not worked with a big production house or a big hero”. “We all know that Bollywood, the film industry is classist and so is the rest of the society. The system works for certain people the way it is. It is definitely going to resist when you are going to challenge it.” The three-time National Award winner said after her debut film Gangster, she struggled a lot for work.

“When I came to the industry with a film like Gangster, I won the Best Actress award in entire Asia and then I did not have any work at all. They did not know what to do with an actor like that.

“Item numbers were prevalent and so were the patriarchal and chauvinist sort of male depiction in films where actors and actresses are just showing up to get pinched in their butt or get mocked. So I did not had any work. So I like said if it is a do-or-die situation I’m going to ensure that I survive,” Kangana said.

She said the power players of Bollywood tried to suppress her voice but she fought every time.

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“When you question so many things, they will try to shut your voice because the system has been working for them. It is your prerogative as a person to see what you want to do. Of course they will do what they can to ensure that people like us who question the system do not survive,” she said.

On the topic of women empowerment, Kangana lamented that there are women actors in the industry who believe that they do not deserve pay on par with their male counterparts. “I think you are as empowered as you think you are. It’s a very individual choice. I know some women who openly say that ‘I don’t think I deserve the kind of remuneration my male counterpart does.’ It is an individual choice. If you believe that you are not an equal then of course nobody can change that,” she said.

Kangana also said that feminism is the most misused word in the current times.

“Feminism is a word which is misused and especially in today’s time and age. I know so many people who know nothing about equality and they wear these badges of feminism, pay parity and fighting cause...,” she said. “I don’t go by the book definition of feminism. I have made my own definition. Though the word is derived from feminine but why should there be only equalities which is influenced by or related to sex. There should be equality of life... I think with time we need to evolve the definition,” she added.

(With PTI inputs)