Kangana Ranaut: A Life Less Ordinary

- Jitesh Pillai

Kangana Ranaut has always struck me as one of the most real of our actors. Whatever she does or says is straight from the heart. She’s brutally candid and doesn’t need to lie to keep up appearances. Her latest, Katti Batti, didn’t perform as well as expected but Kangana has accepted it with grace and moved on. Hits and failure after all come with the territory. “I’m born with this strong sense of self,” she says. Nothing fazes her. Not even criticism of any kind. “Even when people comment on my accent, my English, it doesn’t bother me. It’s natural because I come from the mountains. I don’t see anything wrong in it. People who don’t have values, who don’t know how to talk to others; they’re the ones who should be embarrassed.”

She gets introspective and says, “As a person I should be embarrassed about my irresponsible behaviour in the past, all the ‘Gone With The Wind’ type of things I did. But don’t make me uncomfortable about things, I shouldn’t be embarrassed about. Like, the fact that I’m from a middle-class background or I have a mountain voice.” She elaborates, “I’ve had my share of heartbreak and relationships. I’m not embarrassed about them. But people develop complexes about strange things. Despite the fact that they come from the best families and have been to the best schools.”

She views criticism as a stepping stone towards greater self-awareness. “I don’t get affected by negativity. Long back, when I joined theatre, my director was the only one who believed I could act. He was the only one who said encouraging things. I used to attend the workshop just for that. Right from