Kangana Ranaut On Nepotism: ‘Became Very Toxic And Life-Threatening When I Became The Top Star’

Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s sudden demise has not only left the nation in a state of shock, but has also sparked a parallel controversy bringing the debate of nepotism back to the limelight. While many actors who do not have any links in the industry are opening up about their struggle stories as an ‘outsider’, star kids are being brutally trolled on social media and are also receiving hate messages from cyber bullies. Amongst others, Kangana Ranaut has actively been speaking about the issue of nepotism along with the debate about ‘outsiders vs insiders’ in the Bollywood industry.

In a recent chat with Pinkvilla, the actress shared that when she had just started out in the films, she faced it all but never thought it can be so fatal. Kangana shared that she never had the idea of the graveness of it and felt it was just another one of those obstacles. She shared, “Whether it is coming from a small village or not being able to speak English or having never seen films itself. There have been many challenges and I felt maybe nepotism is one of those that I can override and turn it into my favour and it wasn't always in play but it only became very toxic and life-threatening when I became the top star.” That’s when she realized that it is not very difficult to be successful, but to remain successful because of the competition is the real task.

Kangana had first shared her honest opinion on nepotism during an episode of filmmaker Karan Johar’s chat show Koffee With Karan. Explaining that she had just tried to raise awareness about such issues and was not meaning to start a fight, the actress stated, “Honestly, I do feel like I started a premature talk on it. When I spoke to Karan about it, I was just kind of teasing him, pulling his leg. Had I known these people are so dangerous, had I known it would cause death, had I known it is not just something to joke about or tease about, it is just not something about snatching films. It is not only about films, it is also about vengeance, the sadism of the human psyche. I had not done it or taken it so lightly because I think I took it lightly then I was attacked in a way that they went for me. They tried to put criminal cases on me, they tried to sabotage my brands, and my films and my whole brand came crashing before Manikarnika.”

Talking about the effect of all this on Sushant, she stated, “I think that discouraged Sushant in a huge way who was supporting me and then this is what happened. I think I should have known the graveness of it and even what happened has discouraged many and it just became movie, film gossip and nepotism. Nothing concrete came out of my first attempt to bring awareness. I tried to bring awareness and not fight it. But this time around what has happened has shaken me and to be honest, I cannot stop feeling bad about it especially because he has been complaining about bullying and you cannot not see it you know, so I think I would have been more prepared. I don't feel great about it but this just is how it happened and I wish we could have saved that life.”

A few days ago, a clip from Karan Johar’s old interview went viral on social media in which he asked Kangana to leave Bollywood. Talking about the video, the actress shared that somebody had said if one person would have stopped him then and there, had he not received such a huge applaud and roaring response from the audience, we would have saved Sushant. Kangana believes the same and feels we as a society failed.