Kangana: All 2014 Awards Were Mine, Not Priyanka's
The actress talks about life before and after Queen. Read on for her damning revelations
Kangana Ranaut talks about life before and after Queen. Read on for her damning revelations
She has come a long way. Mahesh Bhatt who introduced her in Bollywood (Gangster) must be extremely proud of her. It's her birthday today and she is busy launching a new poster of her next film Tanu Weds Manu 2 in Delhi. But she is in a mood to talk.
Why? It's my eighth birthday in the industry. I turned 28. That's about it.
Isn't it the first birthday in eight years when you can say that life has changed for you?
Isn't it the first birthday in eight years when you can say that life has changed for you?
Yeah, my life is not the same anymore. People's attitude towards me has changed (pauses).
Please continue...
People have started caring about me, maybe not in literal sense but definitely in terms of the attention I am getting.
I used to get just three-four messages on phone every day from the people I know in Bollywood, today i get 100. Maybe I have made some mark.
Didn't you get fed up in your journey of highs and lows?
Of course, I did. There were good days and bad days, perhaps more of the latter. It happens with many of us. You feel you have made a wrong choice. You question yourself that why did you come so far. But everyone doesn't have options, neither did I. It was a do-or-die situation. Above all, people thought that I was quite candid and impractical. Like I remember, people were shocked when I refused The Dirty Picture saying that the film would be a replica of Fashion for me. I was told that I shouldn't have an opinion and choice when I didn't have work. And... (pauses)
And?
i don't want to sound heroic here. I don't want to sound like a special soul who knew that she will make it.The truth is that I had no idea. I even wanted to back out and do something else. I directed a short film (The Touch) but came back. Even now, I don't want to continue acting throughout my life.
Hmmm...
Why should I continue doing the same thing throughout my life? I want to live in different countries. I want to make movies. I want to do organic farming. I want to write books. I want to have a kind of lifestyle that allows me to have a regular life too. Acting is art, and no one can teach you art. You just need to have a normal life for that. Art is your interpretation of life. The more I go away from acting and movies, the more I tend to understand them.
Rekha dropping by at your place to give you the Filmfare trophy for Queen must have been a very special moment. You had decided not to attend award functions...
Rekhaji is a very special person. We have been very good friends. She has been very kind to me.
Will you start attending award functions now?
Not sure. I am just glad that things are changing. An award has finally been given to a person who did not attend. A condition which is laid down that 'we shall give you the award if and only if you attend our function' is ridiculous. This is definitely not cool. At times, we actors are genuinely out of town and not able to make it. Why should your attendance count and not your performance?
Has it happened with you that you were robbed of an award simply because you didn't attend an award function?
Many times. I was getting all the awards for the Best Debutante Female for Gangster. But I got late for just one function. And what do I hear at the gates? The award has gone to someone else, not me! Do you know what happened to me for Tanu Weds Manu?
Tell us...
I was told by a certain organisation that I had won the Best Actress Award in Popular Category. The film's director Aanand L Rai made it to the ceremony, but he was told that they can't give me the award because I hadn't come to the event. Even during Krrish 3. (trails off).
What happened during Krrish 3?
By then, I had lost all the craze and respect for awards. I got a call from a company that I have to attend their function if I wanted the award. Who talks like this? Am I kid? I decided that it was time to become insensitive towards awards.
Going back to the Filmfare award. Did you see it coming? Priyanka Chopra was sweeping it all away for Mary Kom...
I was supposed to get all the awards. You think we don't come to know before hand?
And you didn't want to go for those functions...
Yes.
Hmmm... so did that spoil your equation with Priyanka?
Priyanka and I didn't have an equation jo kharab ho gaya. She was a big star in 2008 when I was just taking baby steps in Bollywood. She was very kind to me then. I have learnt a lot from her.
So Priyanka got all the awards on the rebound right?
If awards matter to someone, he/she has to be respected. The same applies to those for whom awards don't matter. You can't say why one likes awards. If it thrills someone, let it thrill. I am not here to judge people if they love awards. Anyway, Priyanka has always been open that she loves to attend award functions.
You have a film coming up with Imran Khan (Katti Batti). He has had a tough time in his career since the past two years...
That's a way of life in our profession. But Imran is unaffected. He has got a lovely daughter and he is so much into parenting these days. Besides, Katti Batti has worked out very well.
So, is the Queen throwing a party to celebrate the turnaround in her career after returning to Mumbai?
I am having a small party in Delhi tonight. But yeah, I plan to have a bash soon after the trailer of Tanu Weds Manu 2 is launched on April 7.
Are you doing Sujoy Ghosh's adaptation of The Devotion of Suspect X?
Yeah. People thought Sujoy and I had fallen apart when I couldn't do his film Rani Durga Singh, but we had stayed in touch.
You have been offered to play the lead role in Tigmanshu Dhulia’s next, which is an adaptation of Vinod Mehtas book Meena Kumari: The Classic Biography...
That's right. Talks are on. I think it will work out. Right now, my first priority is Tanu Weds Manu 2 which hits the theatres in May.
People are talking about you and Hrithik Roshan...
Ab main kya bolun? I don't want to comment on this. Jo hoga pata chal jayega.
Are you dating Hrithik?
I am not dating anyone.
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