Kangana’s antics threaten to overshadow her accomplishments as an actor

I fail to understand why Kangana Ranaut, a Bollywood actor who has proven her mettle repeatedly, gets into unnecessary controversies that do nothing to advance her career or bolster her credibility. After sparring with lyricist Javed Akhtar, politician Uddhav Thackeray, singer Diljit Dosanjh, and filmmaker Karan Johar, she has now decided to take on Filmfare magazine. What is the problem? She is not happy to be nominated for an award.

Ranaut was nominated for the “Best Actor in a Leading Role (Female)” category at the 67^th year of the Filmfare Awards to honour her work in the film Thalaivii (2021). This biopic, based on the life of actor-turned-politician J. Jayalalithaa, was directed by A.L. Vijay. Instead of accepting the nomination gracefully, Ranaut wrote an Instagram post calling out Filmfare for its “unethical, corrupt and totally unfair practices” and even threatened to sue Filmfare. She also alleged that Filmfare threatened to not give her awards if she refused to perform.

While Ranaut might be patting herself on the back for her supposed bravery, her decision to question the credibility of the Filmfare Awards casts a question mark over her own career, considering that she has benefited hugely from five Filmfare awards for four of her films – Anurag Basu’s Gangster: A Love Story (2006), Madhur Bhandarkar’s Fashion (2008), Vikas Bahl’s Queen (2013) and Aanand L. Rai’s film Tanu Weds Manu: Returns (2015). Is she planning to return those awards too, or is the threat to sue Filmfare merely a publicity stunt timed perfectly to go with the ongoing promotional campaign for her film Emergency?

We will know soon. In the meanwhile, Filmfare has already released an official statement expressing their disappointment with Ranaut’s “unwarranted malicious remarks”. The statement claims that Ranaut was informed about her nomination, and asked for her residential address so that the invitation to attend the award ceremony could be delivered.

The statement also clarifies that nominations are not based on whether a celebrity agrees to perform at the ceremony or not. In conclusion, the statement notes, “Given the irresponsible remarks made by Ms. Ranaut about Filmfare Awards, we are withdrawing her Best Actress nomination for the movie Thalaivii. We reserve all rights to pursue any legal action against her malicious and defamatory statements tarnishing our reputation and goodwill.”

In her Instagram post, Ranaut, who seems to have little respect for her contemporaries, said that she has been “pitted against mediocre work”. This pompous assertion seems hollow and laughable since the others nominated for the “Best Actor in a Leading Role (Female)” category are Kiara Advani for Vishnuvardhan’s Shershaah, Kriti Sanon for Laxman Utekar’s Mimi, Parineeti Chopra for Dibakar Banerjee’s Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar, Taapsee Pannu for Akarsh Khurana’s Rashmi Rocket, and Vidya Balan for Amit V. Masurkar’s Sherni.

Ranaut deserves applause for taking on the lead role in Thalaivii but her contemptuous tone in relation to other women from the same industry is unlikely to go down well with anyone. She was once hailed as a feminist icon because she confronted Johar on his own talk show Koffee with Karan, and designated him “the flagbearer of nepotism” but what she is doing right now is just sloppy, unprofessional behaviour. A principled stance against award functions – the kind that Aamir Khan is known for – would have made sense but the vitriol directed at other women competing for the same award seems completely uncalled for.

Ranaut might want to remember that the audiences who showered her with love did so because of her fine acting skills, and her remarkable ability to move them with impressive performances. They also stood by her when distasteful statements maligning her were made by three of her ex-boyfriends – Aditya Pancholi, Adhyayan Suman and Hrithik Roshan. However, they are refusing to support her cinema because her focus has drifted away from her acting. Her last film Dhaakad (2022), directed by Razneesh Ghai, fared miserably.

Ranaut is a four-time winner of the National Film Awards. She has been honoured with the Padma Shri by the Government of India. With all these achievements, one expects her to conduct herself with more dignity in professional settings and public forums. If she does not get her act together, it could be detrimental for her own growth as an actor. When audiences go to cinema halls to watch her films, or stream them online, they do not care about her outrage or iconoclasm. What they want is their money’s worth. Is Ranaut willing to listen?

I look forward to watching her slide into the role of India’s former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in the film Emergency – a political drama that Ranaut is not only acting in but also directing and producing. In this multi-starrer, Mahima Chaudhary will be seen playing writer-activist Pupul Jayakar, Shreyas Talpade has been cast as poet-politician Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and Anupam Kher will essay the character of Jayaprakash Narayan. This does sound exciting.

Chintan Girish Modi is a Mumbai-based writer who tweets @chintanwriting

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