Known for her brazen honesty, Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut has once again spoken out against stereotypical gender roles in society.
In an interview with Hindustan Times, she said, “I feel that we, as Indians, have a knack for loving a stereotypical, sobbing, sympathy-seeking personality. I feel that we need to promote quirky, cool and youthful talent. We have to stop propagating the sob-story angle of celebs, where they try to be larger-than-life. That is very outdated.”
The response came as an answer to why she feels celebrities often get misinterpreted for their statements. Adding to that, the Queen star confessed, “The expectations from me are that I am sati-savitri, which I am not. You have to come to terms with the fact that I am today’s woman. I am a total badass, not a sati-savitri. I refuse to become one.”
She also admitted that she has had her fair share of positivity and negativity in the past year. Positivity referring to her success in films and in other areas, and negativity referring to her falling out with her ‘contemporaries’, as she terms it.
“What people see is just your career graph and the films you do. But that’s a very small aspect of my life. I’ve just started to build a little house in Manali, Himachal Pradesh. That’s me going back to my roots. Laying the first brick of my house was an important decision,” Kangana revealed.
“Apart from that, I represented India on an international platform and was called the ‘The new face of India’. That, too, was a crucial turning point. I want to do more things like that, and not just stick to acting. I’m not just an actor,” she proudly stated, looking back at 2015.
“Last year, I saw a lot of facets opening up for me to be able to grow. I always wanted to do organic farming, so I’ve set up a farm in Manali now. I always wanted to be a speaker. I want to talk about things. So, 2015 has been amazing. On the career front, it’s been very balanced,” theTanu Weds Manu actor said.
Commenting on her arguments, she said, “My contemporaries planted stories and set up traps. I went out and condemned them and called people out for ganging up [against me]. They tried to sabotage my business deals and targeted my position as an artiste when I was commanding a certain price… so I spoke out publicly, when I could have simply enjoyed my time and focused on my work.”
“I was too bothered about shutting people up. Looking back, I am always going to regret doing that, but at the same time, this is me. I have a lot to learn in life. Regardless, I feel that the truth always persists, and these things eventually don’t go anywhere. Having said that, I could have handled it with much more calmness, as opposed to getting so excited,” she added.
Kangana also spoke about the importance of being honest, saying, “The only thing you can fall back on in difficult times is the fact that you are right, honest and they [naysayers] can’t prove you wrong. So this is very important to me. I’m comfortable with the values I follow.”
When asked about why she doesn’t attend award functions, the actor calmly said that it’s because she believes today’s award shows are mere façades. “They are not genuine awards functions. I understand that these are commercial functions that are meant to generate TRPs and make money. So why this façade of felicitating artistes when that isn’t the case?
“Genuine artistes, like the best technicians, writers and actors are pushed to the tenth row, and sit with their families, hoping to figure out what’s going on with these fancy people, who are in the news for their relationships and item numbers,” she added.
“The main category goes to people who can help generate TRPs. And they might or might not even be deserving candidates. I feel this is not done and we need to change this. Organisers should be honest in saying that this is not an awards function; it’s just a function. I won’t be part of something so dishonest. I completely condemn them for that reason,” Kangana explained.
