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January 25, 2023

Kangana Is Back On Twitter: Love Her Or Hate Her, You Can’t Ignore Her!

Kangana Ranaut is a force to reckon with, no matter what you feel about her; known for taking on the bigwigs of the industry for nepotism.

Reena Daruwalla
Kangana

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The big news on social media yesterday was that Kangana Ranaut was reinstated on Twitter, nearly two years after being de-platformed.

There was a time when Kangana was not active on Twitter. Then when she was, she was either promoting her films or picking pangas (meaning fights; pun intended). We look at Kangana’s journey and at her upcoming project based on Indira Gandhi.

“Hello everyone”

https://twitter.com/KanganaTeam/status/1617855473587474436

She started out with this rather anodyne tweet after nearly two years of being off Twitter. Her fans were ecstatic to have her back; so were her opponents and sparring partners.

#WelcomeBackQueen

Fans recalled Ranaut’s brilliant performances in films like Queen, Tanu Weds Manu, Rangoon, when she was reportedly (and correctly) paid more than her male co-stars as well as movies like her early Fashion which she did before she even turned 20. We knew early on that this was a powerhouse of talent that had arrived on the Hindi movie firmament.

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Many woman-led films over the years

Her unconventional roles in films like the very quirky Revolver Rani, as well as other films like Judgemental Hai Kya, Simran, Manikarnka and Thalaivi were all unusual in that they were women-centric films in a still overwhelmingly male-dominated industry.

Her crusade against nepotism

https://twitter.com/mr_memewala_/status/1272586739131904000

This gutsy woman went on Karan Johar’s show and called him the ‘flagbearer of nepotism’; an absolutely fair charge. However, after a while, her belligerence seemed misplaced. Her continual self-projection as an outsider seemed inauthentic given her that she was now a successful member of the film industry with means and considerable clout.

She then said this

Ranaut had my admiration as a talented actor, a fearless woman speaking up in a nepotistic male-dominated industry and as someone seen to be championing women’s rights. However, as she grew more and more belligerent politically, my admiration waned. It disappeared when she said this about Indira Jaisingh, one of India’s most respected and senior women lawyers. To my mind statements like this defeat the collective cause of women. She has made other combative and derogatory statements in respect of other women actors, which again, to my mind are unnecessary and detrimental to the larger cause of women everywhere.

Aligning with the powers that be?

After a point Ranaut seemed more interested in directing her belligerence towards anyone with different political alignments than hers. She trained her sights on women protestors and in the process succeeded in riling up a whole other demographic.

The de-platforming was unfair, feel some

Fans and media persons who are largely politically aligned with Ranaut feel that her ouster from Twitter was unfair and that she was rightly brought back.

Others are also happy… albeit for other reasons

Next is what?

https://twitter.com/BorntobeAshwani/status/1617877605876903936

Kangana Ranaut stars in and directs Emergency, her next film. She plays Indira Gandhi in the film with a self-explanatory title. I for one am looking forward to watching the film when it releases. I want to see whether Ranaut will be playing a role based on her political leanings or whether we will see in action the actor whose craft I admired so much – before she started to believe in her own myth, that is.

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About the Author

Reena Daruwalla

A former lawyer, now freelance writer, fauji wife, mother, singer, knitter and lover of my own cooking, I have altogether too many opinions and too few convictions. The more I learn the more I am read more...

38 Posts | 26,998 Views

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Feminist
April 23, 2024

There Is A Prachi In All Of Us! Why, As A Society, Can’t We Look Beyond Appearance?

UP Boards Topper Prachi Nigam was trolled on social media for her facial hair; our obsession with appearance is harsh on young minds.

Anjali Paul

Prachi Nigam’s photo has been doing the rounds on social media for the right reasons. Well, scratch that- I wish the above statement were true. This 15-year-old girl should ideally be revelling in her spectacular achievement of scoring a whopping 98.05% and topping her tenth-grade boards. But oddly enough, along with her marks, it’s something else that garners more attention – her facial hair.

While the trolls are driving themselves giddy by mocking this girl who hasn’t even completed her school yet, the ones who are taking her side are going one step ahead – they are sharing her photoshopped pictures, sans the facial hair, looking nothing less than a celebrity with captions saying – “Prachi Nigam, ten years later”.

Doctors have already diagnosed her with PCOD in their comments, based on photographic evidence. While we have names for people shamed for their weight – body shaming, for their skin colour- racism, for their age- age shaming, for being a female- sexism, this category of shaming where one faces criticism for their appearance has no name. With that, it also has zero shame attached to it.

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