Kangana Ranaut’s biggest role: The ‘outsider’ as the ‘insider’

It was but fitting that Kangana Ranaut’s political debut began with a controversy.

A day after the BJP announced it would field the Bollywood actor who is as much in the news on screen as off from Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, Congress social media head Supriya Shrinate found herself on the defensive over a since-deleted disparaging remark against Ranaut that appeared on her social media account (Shrinate later said it had been posted by somebody with access to her account). Rivals then started putting out Ranaut’s own none-too-flattering remarks against her colleagues.

However, 37-year-old Ranaut would not be where she is – catapulting straight to the top, at the start of her political journey – if she didn’t know how to cause a stir.

For some time now, Ranaut has made her BJP leanings evident, not just in her public remarks and posts, but also the choice of the projects she picks. Her sympathisers would say that to some extent Ranaut has been pushed into this role, with the entrenched Bollywood industry turning its back on her, leaving her to look for support where she could.

National Commission for Women is appalled by the disgraceful conduct of Ms. Supriya Shrinate and Mr. H.S. Ahir, who made lewd and derogatory remarks about <a href=«https://twitter.com/KanganaTeam?ref_src=» https: class="" rel=«nofollow, noopener» target="_blank">@KanganaTeam

on social media. Such behavior is intolerable and goes against the dignity of women. <a href=«https://twitter.com/sharmarekha?ref_src=» https: class="" rel=«nofollow, noopener» target="_blank">@sharmarekha has sent a…

— NCW (@NCWIndia) <a href=«https://twitter.com/NCWIndia/status/1772291644605473023?ref_src=» https: class="" rel=«nofollow, noopener» target="_blank">March 25, 2024

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