I have mixed feelings about Kangana Ranaut – on the one hand I have mad admiration for her as a brilliant actor and as a gutsy woman who is not afraid to say her mind and stand her ground. On the other hand, I am perplexed and somewhat repulsed by her eagerness to pick fights, cast aspersions and attack women; the very group she claims to speak for. The latest in a long line of very public outbursts are her pronouncements on nepotism following the tragic death of Sushant Singh Rajput and her needless targeting of other actors.
Ranaut was one of the first to bravely speak out against the deep-rooted nepotism of Bollywood. After the death of Sushant, she has repeatedly spoken about this linking back to director and Bollywood biggie Karna Johar and what is called the ‘suicide gang’ of Bollywood.
There has been a lot of support for Ranaut on the matter. There is no doubt at all that the Hindi film industry is insular, highly nepotistic, exploitative and cruel to outsiders.
While there is no doubt that Ranaut makes valid points about nepotism and favouritism in Bollywood, she does tend to make everything about her. While speaking of Rajput, she inevitably lists a litany of her own woes and the many, many times she faced injustice.
To bolster her point about nepotism Ranaut referred to two of her female colleagues – Tapsee Panny and Swara Bhaskar as needy, ‘B-grade actresses’.
Many on social media agree with Ranaut’s assessment of Pannu and Bhaskar as B grade actors.
While she was undoubtedly a struggling newcomer at one point, she is now a star with significant power and influence.
A lot of people see Ranaut as a bully now. As such, she loses sympathy when she goes after people perceived as less powerful and influential than her.
In response to being called a ‘B-grade’ actor, Tapsee Pannu joked about the grading system that Ranaut had supposedly initiated; possibly trying to side-step a quarrel.
She spoke about Ranaut’s reaction to another tragic suicide from a few years back; and how her reaction was very different at the time.
There are many actors who, while they admire Ranaut’s talent and outspokenness feel that she is needlessly combative and abrasive to her colleagues.
Bhaskar decided to take Ranaut's words as a compliment and chose not to engage in the name-calling. She expressed the rather generous view that Ranaut is a ‘gorgeous, generous & a great actor’.
On another TV show, Ranaut went on yet another offensive against her colleagues while taking credit for initiating ‘parallel cinema’ and fighting for ‘outsiders’. This time Bhaskar responded with this sarcastic tweet.
And there we have yet another edition in the saga of Kangana Ranaut the ‘outsider’ who is now an industry ‘insider’; who keeps things simmering with her own brand of belligerence and bombast. Wonder what will trigger her again? Me too.
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