Wherever there is controversy, there is Kangana Ranaut. Controversy is her middle name. It has been her way of life, not just when she entered Bollywood but much before that. As a 16-year-old, she rebelled against her parent’s wishes, relocated to Delhi to chart her path in life instead of pursuing medicine which her parents wanted her to do. She made her debut in Bollywood with the Anurag Basu-directed film Gangster in the year 2006.
The critics recognized her innate ability to act with conviction and intensity. The finesse and panache with which she enacted very intimate scenes at that young age had the entire film fraternity sit up and notice. Even seasoned and acclaimed actress like Sabana Azmi admired her debut performance.
Since then, 34-year-old Kangana has not looked back and has taken strident steps towards stardom even though it has not been a smooth journey. In the process, Kangana has kicked up many a controversy earning for herself the sobriquet “controversy queen,” with her critics also proclaiming that she suffers from the foot-in-the-mouth disease.
In 2016, Kangana came public that she was having an affair with Hrithik Roshan, refusing to acknowledge it. Hrithik had filed a case of cyber-stalking against Kangana. The matter rested after a public spat between the two. Kangana then exposed her supposed mentor in the film industry Aditya Pancholi by making explosive revelations against him. She alleged that Aditya Pancholi sexually harassed her and even beat her up when she was a mere 17-year-old and a new entrant to Bollywood.
She alleged that Aditya Pancholi took advantage of that she was new to Bollywood while he was well entrenched in the film industry. This tirade continued when she appeared on Karan Johar’s chat show “Koffee with Karan” and called him the flagbearer of nepotism in his show, going to the extent of equating him with the movie mafia.
She has gone on to bad-mouthing upcoming actresses, including Alia Bhatt, calling her a product of nepotism. She termed her performance in “Gully Boy” as mediocre. She accused Mahesh Bhatt, Alia Bhatt’s father, of throwing a slipper at her when working in a film with him. 
Her latest gaffe is as atrocious as it possibly can be. In an interaction with a media house conducting a programme on India completing 75 years of independence, she publicly criticized the struggle for India’s independence, calling it “alms” from the British. Shen went on to say that the people who ruled the country, the INC, were merely an extension of the British and that the government got true independence only in 2014 when Mr Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister of India.
It has enraged the entire country. Parties have criticized Kangana across the political spectrum. Some members of the BJP also have come down heavily on Kangana for making these careless and irresponsible remarks. Many have requested the President to take back her Padma Shri award that was conferred on her recently. When the chorus for taking back her award grew, and she was unequivocally panned for her outrageous statement, she very calmly came out asking which war did we fight to get independence in 1947?
With the passage of every day, she is scaling new heights in diffidence and obduracy. She has now gone ahead and slammed the father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, deriding him for his policy of non-violence. She asserts that you can only get alms and nothing else if you show the other cheek when you are slapped on one. The entire nation is outraged by this, but she will not mend her ways.
Actors of Bollywood wield tremendous influence with youngsters as they are seen as role models by many of them. They should be cautious about the stand they take on issues. They should see to it that they do not reek of hatred and bigotry. Because of this event, the entire process of selection of Padma awards is under scrutiny. Was Kangana given the Padma Shri because she was towing the present government’s line on political issues?
Kangana is the latest addition to the ever-growing list of film industry actors who have plunged headlong into the cesspool of religious bigotry. Anupam Kher, Paresh Rawal and Akshay Kumar are other famous names from Bollywood who have followed the same path previously and have been aptly rewarded with Padma awards.
Bollywood is a manifestation of what India stands for as a country. Bollywood, in many ways, is a microcosm of India. Bollywood was the last citadel of the syncretic culture that till now defined India. It seems the fortress has been breached, and the tides of communalism are inundating its corridors. Making a film is a very creative process that brings people from different faiths, ethnicities and speaking other languages together in a spirit of creativity.
They rise above their gross identities and work with like-minded energy that makes films that appeal to people. Creative freedom is of paramount importance to be able to make a good movie. All of this is now in jeopardy. Now, Bollywood is being seen through the prism of religion. It was evident in the Aryan Khan arrest case.
The Khan trio of Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan and Aamir Khan have dominated Bollywood since the ’90s. Has this troubled the present political dispensation? Where will it end, and what will lead to are the questions uppermost in everyone’s mind? It is time such irrationality is given a decent burial.
Article Proofread and Edited by Shreedatri Banerjee
