INTERVIEW

I had to fight for my career and the money I get paid: Kangana Ranaut

kangana-ranaut-file

Kangana Ranaut speaks to The Week about being a woman in an industry dominated by men, what #MeToo means to her, and why women should fight for themselves, instead of expecting men to change things. Excerpts:

You are one of the few women from the industry who does not hesitate to speak her mind about anything. What gives you the strength?

To be honest, I do not go out thinking that I have to change society, or make it douchebag-free [laughs]. I am a good person, but not a great one. I am fighting for my rights. If I look like I am fighting for the rest of humanity, it is because fighting for your cause can also lead to a collective cause. I had to fight for my career and the money that I get paid. I have my houses and properties because I fought for them; not because of others.

Big production houses exploit actresses; they don’t get the kind of money you think they do. I am not being money-minded, but I’d like to know what is the future of a leading actress. You expect her to latch onto a big shot... a big businessman or hero, sleep with him and be his mistress. This is as good as it gets for a leading lady. Is this what I worked for? No. I am fighting for my rights because the condition of women is miserable. If you don’t want to latch onto a rich man, then you’re kicked out because there is always a younger person.

Because of all the bold statements you make, you are often termed a troublemaker. Do you think this would be the case if you were a man? And, how does it affect you?

People think that I am fighting a battle everyday. My life must be miserable. I must be having no future because I’m not friends with the Johars and the Roshans. It’s far from that. I am doing one of the biggest epics of 2018. No other film with a female lead has been made with a higher budget.

That’s the thing—people do not glorify the right things. It is seen as something negative. If you want to fight for your rights, you are a troublemaker. That is not the way we should set our social standards. No wonder there are so many miserable, jobless people. The rich are too rich and the poor are too poor. It is because of these mindsets.

At Shobhaa De’s book launch, you said that a woman should be allowed to talk about sexual assault even 50 years after it happened, even from her deathbed.

Yes, because then the exploiter will be scared that one day she might remember it and write a memoir. So, this will set an example. Before shutting [the women] up, they should think about the consequences of their idiotic actions. What they did to Swara [Bhaskar], for example, is shameful beyond words. Many idiotic people who have not done anything to be called feminists are calling her a fake feminist.

[Feminism] is a movement that has to take over the world. A movement can only be successful when it is global. Anyone should be able to be a part of it. Two years ago, ‘feminist’ was a shameful word. [Since then], women, collectively, have fought cases, put their careers at stake, and risked everything to make this word ambitious. Some people, who are against the movement, have understood that you cannot change much. So, let us make it so aspirational that people are [confused] about who a feminist is. A feminist is anybody—male or female—who thinks she is as good as anyone else. If you have been a jerk till yesterday and decide today you want to fight for the right to equality, then come, you are a feminist. Why should becoming a feminist be shameful? Also, like Swara, one can agree to disagree. How can you take away her right to speech? Who are these people [to stop her]?

For full interview, read THE WEEK issue dated April 1.