Kangana Ranaut’s most candid interview ever

AC: But, Kangana, all actresses travel and see the world, but not many dress like you. What do you do differently?

KR: No, I think it has a lot to do with me overcompensating for the fact that I come from a small town and the fact that I’ve always been made to feel like somebody who doesn’t belong here and it helped me grow into this person who’s supposed to be very stylish versus other people who are being Miss Worlds or supermodels or being somebody’s daughter, so it always helped me learn more and maybe not fit in, but at least be somebody who deserves to be here and not just somebody who happened to be here.

AC: Kangana, your journey from a small-town girl in Himachal Pradesh to a National Award-winning actor and style icon has been remarkable. What has been the key in this ascent? What’s the one thing that really propelled it?

KR: I think strong criticism about everything. I always had this desire to be somebody who can really inspire people and who can be somebody people can look up to and not just a girl who once was there. You know how difficult the competition is and every day there is a new girl and if people point out things about you, they say that your accent is bad or you don’t dress up properly or your hair looks bad, it helps you. You don’t want to continue. You don’t want to be stuck-up or stubborn and who would want to say only nice things about you? So I think we can work as people who would want to do better in life. I think they should see the nicer side of criticism.

Kangana Ranaut

AC: That’s a wonderful thing to say to a film critic. (Laughs) People do see the nicer side of criticism, but it never broke your heart, Kangana?

KR: No, not really. And it’s not because I don’t have any self- respect or I don’t really love or like myself, but I think people have been very genuine when it comes to criticism and I think we have to appreciate their spirit as well.

AC: You have six movies coming up including Krrish 3, Queen and Revolver Rani. Would you say this is the best phase of your career?

KR: It feels like that. I don’t know how these films will be perceived. Revolver Rani and Queen can’t really be categorized in a genre. They are so different. But I hope people like them. Personally, I really feel like I’m in the best phase of my career because I have never been given strong characters and title roles like that. Even where I don’t get to play the title role, like in Krrish 3, I play characters like a superwoman, which I think is largely based on style and physical appearance, but also characters like Revolver Rani who is ignored, rejected and neglected because of her looks, so these are contradictory characters. Every film-maker comes to me with so much conviction like I am this person, so I feel really thrilled and I think this is the best phase of my career.

AC: Kangana, why does an actress like you do films like Rascals and Double Dhamaal?

KR: We have to earn our bread and butter and sometimes we have limited options. As somebody who is self-dependent and doesn’t really have any other job, I have to keep working, doing something or the other. In those films I didn’t really explore something different but I don’t really consider them trashy or something very bad because there’s a certain section of