March 25 (IANS): When Kangana Ranaut unexpectedly replaced Chitrangada Singh in the cast of Anurag Basu’s 2006 film “Gangster: A Love Story,” she was just 17 years old. She had come looking for a vacation and met Basu at the renowned film producer Mahesh Bhatt’s office.
Emraan Hashmi, a sympathetic friend, and Shiney Ahuja, a notorious gangster whose career ended due to allegations of rape, formed the core of Kangana’s portrayal, a troubled alcoholic caught in a love triangle.
Kangana came to the attention of the public at once with this role. Acknowledged as an extraordinary find and granted the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut, she gained prominence rapidly
This was a daring career choice for a disobedient young girl from the Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh, whose parents were businessmen and schoolteachers, respectively, and who had shocked her family by refusing to take the All-India Pre-Medical Test. Dreams came true in Bollywood, where she went on to become a fierce critic and integrity defender.
It was a brave career choice that the family at first disapproved of, as the granddaughter of an IAS officer and a Congress MLA from Himachal Pradesh. Kangana joined a prestigious modeling agency and accepted some assignments before deciding to pursue her dream of becoming an actress. She then relocated from Chandigarh to Delhi, where she took on a few assignments and attended school.
Her first move in this direction was to enroll in Delhi’s prestigious theater company Asmita, which was directed by Arvind Gaur, a man who later mentored Kangana. She finished her acting career with the play Taledanda by Girish Karnad, and it was because of this experience that she moved to Mumbai and enrolled in Asha Chandra’s acting school.
Following “Gangster,” Kangana starred in a number of critically acclaimed movies, including “Life in a… Metro” and “Woh Lamhe,” in which she played a schizophrenic actress who was inspired by Parveen Babi.
Metro’s critically acclaimed films “Fashion” and “Raaz The Mystery” both feature supernatural horror. She broke free from the stereotype of the manic character that all these movies perpetuated, though. She decided on Tanu Weds Manu, Aanand L Rai’s 2011 romantic comedy in which she starred opposite R. Madhavan.
After that, Kangana’s career graph was similar to that of any other successful star, with some hits and misses. However, two projects that she was involved in were part of the Rakesh Roshan-directed blockbuster hit “Krrish 3,” in which she played a mutant who transforms, leading one critic to call Kangana “the role of her life.”
Her time in Bollywood did not, however, come without difficulties. She was initially made fun of for her poor command of English in the industry, especially by the elite. Then there was her contentious relationship that descended into abuse and left her emotionally damaged with Aditya Pancholi.
Afterwards, as Kangana was ending her failed romance with co-star Adhyayan Suman from “Raaz: The Mystery Continues,” her co-stars from “Kites” and “Krrish 3,” Hrithik Roshan, accused Kangana of harassing and cyberstalking her. Due to insufficient evidence, the case was closed.
Kangana’s career after “Queen” included box office bombs like “Rangoon” and Hansal Mehta’s Gujarati crime comedy “Simran,” as well as her portrayal of Rani Lakshmibai in the production-related biopic “Manikarnika,” which suffered from bad scripting.
The sports drama “Panga,” which followed a female kabaddi star, starred Sonu Sood as her co-star during production. Her advocacy for female-driven cinema was cemented when both of her films received critical acclaim and national awards. However, following that, her movies lost their box office appeal.
Kangana, though, continued to make headlines. She publicly chafed under the leadership of renowned filmmaker Karan Johar in 2017 and accused him of nepotism. She was then accused of pushing Sushant Singh Rajput to commit suicide in 2020 after she accused a few unidentified movie stars of “systematically ruining” his career.
These incidents enhanced Kangana’s reputation as a sincere, vocal outsider challenging the Bollywood establishment. Because she used her own campaigns to echo BJP views on issues like nepotism, dynastic politics, and corruption, she became popular among BJP supporters.
Kangana struck a chord with Swami Vivekananda’s followers when she gradually but steadily became the most outspoken and well-known spokesperson for the BJP in the film industry. Kangana was chosen as the brand ambassador for ODOP One District One Product, one of the prominent development programs of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who was among the first BJP leaders to see her potential.
Kangana is the most qualified candidate for a prominent role within the BJP because of her vocal criticism of the preferred treatment that some groups and English-speaking elites in her field receive, her strong online presence, and her unwavering support for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
