Kangana Ranaut

Why Kangana Ranaut

remains the
Queen Uncrowned in spite of her perilous legal
battle with Hrithik Roshan

By Meena Yeggina

Queen she is mainly because of how she streamlined her struggle to success through facing failures and insults head on than letting them disintegrate her. In a world where young girls commit suicide almost on a daily basis, Kangana faced life with aplomb and gut-wrenching perseverance. Her life has been an open book and rightfully, people take inspiration from it and that has remained the actresses main raison d'etre.

But none of this glory could have prepared her for the onslaught she received for challenging Hrithik Roshan, one of the most powerful heroes and son of an influential Bollywood family, in a legal battle. It was something no other heroine could have dreamt of doing in the male-dominated world of Bollywood in the scare of harming her own career and image. But Kangana, who never seriously cared about such an image, not only committed the unimaginable sin of facing Roshan head on but also, in a stunning and transparent retaliation, turned the tables on Roshan in what can be seen as a masterstroke.

By choosing to talk to two credible and prominent journalists like Barkha Dutt (NDTV) and Rahul Kanwal (India Today) on the eve of receiving her third National Award for Tanu wed Mannu Returns Kangana Ranaut dragged and dumped a top star (Hrithik Roshan) and an absolute fledgling (Adhyayan Suman) on to one platform: Total Irrelevancy. By choosing not to identify them personally yet talking in general about misogyny and incantations, Kangana relegated Roshan and Suman to equi nothingness.

“Ten years of humiliation, rejection, and embarrassment could’ve made me believe what the whole world thought about me-like if they thought about me as a loser, but I didn’t think of myself as that or as what the world or my parents thought of me. That’s why I could do what I did in my life... Not just in India but all over the world, winning and success in so overrated,” she says.

Personally, I always hated stereotypical, sobbing, sympathy-seeking image of Bollywood’s female celebs and similar roles they played on screen. Kangana’s personal story, her screen roles and her humorous, liberal and candid interviews charmed my heart with a freshness only she can exuberate.

Playing Vishwamitra to Kangana’s Menaka, Hrithik Roshan who so far had a good family man image in spite of his sudden, shocking divorce, sunk to extreme lows to demolish Kangana’s reputation, violating her privacy and debasing her with offensive accusations. Some stories alleged that a tech savvy Roshan, to save his current relationship, went to monumental extremes to debase Kangana’s image. Even if his allegations are indeed true, the cruelness with which he made her private feelings to him public saddened and distanced many a women who so far have been his fans. Thus Roshan lost out big on perceptions. Similarly, Suman, another ex, jumping into the fray uninvited, insinuated that Kangana was a manipulative witch, ruining his career simply by association. This, after six years of their break up, left a bad taste making people deduce that he is after publicity. Ironically, at this juncture, her first ex, Aditya Pancholi,who physically abused her when she was just a child (16), emerged the best of the three, merely by staying silent.

I did not start this piece to defend either Kangana or Roshan. I don’t know the whole truth, none of us do (if anyone is curious about the historical emergence of events that led to the Ranaut-Roshan legal war, please see http://www.opnlttr.com/letter/not-buying-what-youre-selling-open-letter-hrithik-roshan).

Nevertheless, as a mother of two young adults, I did ponder on the fact that Kangana must have been merely 21 when this “affair” started, versus Roshan’s 36, a fourteen years gap! She was barely a child – an alone and struggling outsider just coming out of two abusive relationships. Yet, through her strong sense of self and ideology (for example, she very early on refused to be the ambassador of a fairness cream; just for comparison, Shah Rukh endorses it), Kangana strode on with gritting perseverance leaving her failed relationships behind. In addition she built a strong career, learnt new skills and bettered her personality, and how!

Any mother would be proud of her. Any sister would want to follow her. Any observer would want to applaud the wonderful anomaly that is Kangana Ranaut. She worked not just on honing her personality, from speaking English to wearing the best clothes, but also on enhancing her already fine acting skills. She took several classes in acting, directing, writing and speaking. She even wrote dialogues for her film Queen thus proving to be a cut above the flock. But the best and most perceptible trait in her is her way of thinking: objective, human, modern and fresh with a huge dose of I don’t care a damn attitude.

Kangana’s growth and temper remind me of the Britney Spears song my daughter used to listen to: “You want a hot body? You want a Bugatti? You want a Maserati? You better work bitch. You want a Lamborghini? Sipping’ martinis? Look hot in a bikini? You better work bitch. You wanna live fancy? Live in a big mansion? Party in France? You better work bitch. ”

Kangana’s story reflects this attitude very strongly.

I was taken aback by Kangana’s scene in Fashion (2008) where she squeals at her boss for rebuking her (which, apparently, was a creation of Kangana herself), but simultaneously drawn to her maniacal persona. I related to her self-discovery as Rani in Queen and to desperation as Tanuja Trivedi in Tanu Weds Manu Returns. I fell hard for Datto when she held her head high and walked out of her own wedding to avoid being tied down in a loveless marriage. Every film she does leaves me wanting to see more of the film – even as the movie ended. I wanted to encroach upon Rani’s new journey, and identify the road map of Datto’s life. She gives you a piece of herself in each of her films. Kangana is way ahead of all the over rated Deepikas, Anushkas and Kajols. Apart from Priyanka and Rani Mukherji, no current Bollywood actress can comes close to her as far as performances are concerned.

Kangana remains a role model for many women in India, dominated by patriarchs and inherent gender biases. Here’s why:

• 1. Her humble beginnings:
  Kangana revolted and walked out of her traditional, son-loving home at the tender age of 16. Her parents wanted her to be a respected doctor, but, despite excelling academically, she followed her gut and own starry dream. She was the topper in her school twice and even today her name adorns the wall of her former school in Bhambla, Himachal Pradesh. According to her teacher, “There was something special about her. She was a carefree and extremely ambitious, trait that you do not find in a lot of students.” (Business Standard)
• 2. Her Hard work and its payoff:
  Almost all directors who worked with her, including her first acting guru, Arvind Gaur of the Asmita theatre group, was taken in by Kangana’s incisive insights. According to Business Standard, during a production of Girish Karnad's Rakt Kalyan, when one of the male actors had an accident, she filled in for him with just 30 minutes of rehearsal. "She was a skinny girl, and when she volunteered for the part, people laughed; but she had been watching and learning everyone's lines,” her acting guru said.

  Writes Business Standard: “Such compliments flood from the industry when it comes to Kangana. Sai Kabir of Revolver Rani calls her the “second rebel” after Sanjay Dutt, and Vinay Sapru the maker of the flop film I Love New York, thinks she is“respectful ...responsible, and finishes her work." Milan Luthria calls her a "chameleon" for slipping into any role while Kabir terms her "cheetah" for being the lone person in his unit to push for shooting in the dangerous Chambal instead of the safe and salubrious environs of a Mumbai studio. Kangana takes her roles personally, even accounting for her features like voice modulation and costumes. Before filming for Once Upon a Time in Mumbai, a film set in 1970s, she handed Luthria, the director, a folder full of references for hair, makeup and costumes, asking if she was on the right track.”

• 3. Her Personality:
  

  Kangana acknowledged in an interview with Barkha Dutt recently that she had to change herself to make a name. Her journey from being a gawky, trusting 16-year-old to a mature, insightful, three-time National Award winner has definitely not been easy, especially since she is an outsider to the industry. Her story is memorable NOT because of her affair with an abusive rapist Aditya Pancholi (technically, it is a crime to have sex with a 16-year-old), who probably was a father figure to Kangana in many ways, but because of her rise from such horrifying situations. Without complaints or blame, Kangana abandoned her sordid affairs with such men, including one with miserable Adhyayan Suman, and egocentric Hrithik Roshan.

  To be fair, I did not talk to any of these people, but took time to carefully watch their interviews and read as much as I could, primarily because I wanted to be fair to all, well, as much as possible. However, the more I read and watched, the more I fell in love with Kangana. Roshan’s megalomania is obvious and Suman made me sick! To me, Kangana Ranaut emerged as a true hero. Like Raziya Sultan, the first female ruler of the Delhi Sultanate in 1240 AD, who was maligned both politically and romantically by those who hated her for being the first female Muslim ruler, Kangana too had to take the brunt of jealous and fallen exes. Her interview with Rahul Kanwal of India Today illuminated her brilliance in her growth both as an actress and as a person. It’s obvious that she is a well-read, global and open-minded individual who refuses to be “slut-shamed,” or “witch-hunted.” She considers such deprecation as part of life, yet refuses to succumb to pressure by Bollywood bigwigs without a fight.

  Kangana broke all hidden gender walls and came across as a compassionate, charismatic and a delightful human being. She embraced all the tags given to her with grace and elegance. When she was called a “whore,” she wore it like a badge of honor, as she knows how hard prostituted women work. When she was called a psychopath or a drug addict, she smiled and said she holds people recovering from such situations admirable, as she has explored their lives through her own characters. In doing this, she in one stroke gave hope, wings and pride to all those suffering from many conditions fighting for normalcy. She even raised up the issue of menstruation, elucidating many stigmas that even young woman are fighting around the world

  Read the article on period stigma here by Sindhu Ravuri: http://www.dailycal.org/2016/04/29 /period-stigma-weekender/

  Watch Kangana interview to India Today here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=958EmtZWETA

Kangana asserts that making mistakes in life should not be a big deal. The big deal should be about moving on from there and creating new goals, climbing harder peaks and inspiring others to do the same.

I wish more young women (and men) became like her: I wish that they became truer to themselves with every passing day; I wish that they take flights of fancy and are never scared of rising in love every time, even after a fall; I wish they don’t commit suicides like young Jiah Khan and Pratyusha Bannerjee did, but take life as a precious gift.

If a Rahul Kanwal of India Today looked half enchanted by this Queen, if Barkha Dutt of NDTV loves to associate herself to Kangana as a strong woman with the word “we,” if Vidya Balan and Amithabh Bachchan are rooting for her, if Nike Shoes wants to make her their ambassador for their campaign for women, if editorials from Indian Express to Business Standard are writing open letters in support of her and if Bollywood in general remains silent about her, thus giving mute support to her, it is because Kangana made sure that she deserves it. In her own words, her journey has not been from Juhu to Bandra in Mumbai (like many star kids’), but from a remote village in Himachal Pradesh to Rashtrapathi Bhavan (President’s House). It was a unique, strong, lonely, delightful, sad yet inspiring journey – and it has always has been an upward graph, in spite of a Hrithik Roshan or an Adhyan Suman! She definitely made the best of it!