Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut has opened up about how she likens the challenges she has faced to the struggles encountered by late actress-turned-politician Jayaram Jayalalithaa who went on to become state chief of Tamil Nadu three times.
While portraying the late South Indian leader's journey on the big screen, Kangana realised that behind the All India Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) party chief's success there was a life full of ups and downs.
Talking to Sputnik in New Delhi on Friday while promotion her film, the Bollywood actress said: “Her friends turned foes, she faced many death threats and conspiracies and was badly insulted in the assembly by male politicians. However, amid all obstacles, she challenged them to become chief minister, and returned to the same assembly, carving a niche for herself in the male-dominated world."
Kangana Ranaut
© Sputnik
Kangana said that women are always underestimated especially in leadership roles.
“When it comes to leading, women are not the obvious choices and Jaya Maa also struggled with that,” she added while referring to Jayalalithaa as 'Maa' (mother), the way the late leader used to be popularly described (Amma).
Describing similar experiences in her life and career, Kangana stated that she had also faced a lot of flak and her voice was crushed by the people from the film industry several times.
She referred to instances where she was boycotted by several people from the film industry whom she accused of ganging up on her to destroy her career and reputation.
The actress was also blackballed by a section of the media for refusing to apologise for lashing out at a reporter during a press conference for giving a bad review of her directorial debut movie 'Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi'.
She also mentioned the incident when her office in Mumbai was partially demolished which she blamed on Maharashtra chief Uddhav Thackeray from the Shiv Sena party and also accused its leader Sanjay Raut of sending her death threats.
“When I became a director, I faced a lot of flak and bullying from all around. I was even banned by the media and the film industry… I gave a political opinion and because of that my house was demolished, even though the court later said it was a criminal act. I was vindicated but at the same time, they tried to crush my voice,” she said.
Kangana’s Battle with the Multiplexes
With the number of coronavirus cases in India decreasing, several multiplexes in various cities have reopened with standard operating procedure (SOP) guidelines in place and having a limited screening of movies.
Kangana says that she keeps facing cartels and closed societies in the entertainment world and this time, it’s the multiplex owners whom the 34-year-old accuses of being unfair to her for not allowing her movie 'Thalaivi' to be released in Hindi in theatres.
“There are different rules for films featuring big heroes. We have seen in the past they have been very much okay in releasing big heroes and big studios' films. So, this kind of gangism and groupism happens all the time... I believe that we should put our faith in single-screen theatres,” Kangana stated.
Kangana Ranaut
© Sputnik
The present need, she said, is to give priority to Indian movies, instead of giving screens to Hollywood films.
“We need to discourage American and English movies as they are taking over our screens. We need to behave like one nation. We need to stop dividing ourselves like North India or South India. We need to enjoy our own films first, be it Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu or Punjabi (languages),” Kangana said.
The actor also pointed out that Hollywood is creating a global monopoly and has destroyed the film industries in France, Italy, Germany and elsewhere.
“This is what they are doing here also… We don’t appreciate each other, and rather see the dubbed versions of Lion King or Jungle Book. But we will not give a dubbed version of a Malayalam film a chance. This will not work in our favour. We must keep our people and our industry our priority. This is the way to make an Atmanirbhar Bharat (India self-reliant),” she added.
In the past, Kangana has taken on politicians, Bollywood celebrities, organisations, and others on a number of pressing issues. Days after the unfortunate demise of actor Sushant Singh Rajput last year, Kangana released a video attacking the Hindi film industry and accusing people of ganging up against him. She also accused many A-Listers in Bollywood of either being drug addicts or drug peddlers.