From calling out nepotism to countering allegations by former colleagues, Kangana Ranaut fights many battles simultaneously. The latest is that Kangana has accused Bollywood, especially Alia Bhatt and Meghna Gulzar, of not reciprocating the love she showered on Raazi.
Kangana, at the time of Raazi’s release, said, “I really liked Raazi. It was awesome. Meghna (Gulzar) did a splendid job with the film. I have no words to express performance of Alia (Bhatt) in the film. She is so good in the film. Meghna and Alia invited me on the trial of their film but I couldn’t attend it because I was busy shooting for my film, then I promised them that I will watch the film soon. I am going to send Alia a congratulatory message for her film. I think Alia is most definitely undisputed queen. Its Alia’s world and we are just living in it.”
Their equations have taken a complete turn since then. Now, triggered by Alia’s silence on Manikarnika, Kangana is back to her original stance of ‘down with nepotism.’ She suggested Alia should grow a spine and shouldn’t be Karan Johar’s puppet.
However, in all this, she has forgotten a basic point. She is asking for help from the same people she spoke so much against. She called Karan Johar the ‘flag-bearer of nepotism’ to his face, two years ago, on his Koffee couch, sitting beside Saif Ali Khan. And now, Alia, who started her career under Johar’s aegis, is being accused of not stepping up in Kangana’s support.
It’s paradoxical.
Either you need their support or you don’t. It can’t be selective, especially when your own film is struggling at the ticket window. As per film trade analyst Taran Adarsh, Manikarnika has earned Rs 91.70 crore so far. It’s not a satisfactory return on a film reportedly made on a budget of approximately Rs 125 crore.
#Manikarnika picked up speed on [third] Sat and Sun... Steady trending... [Week 3] Fri 1.25 cr, Sat 2.65 cr, Sun 3.25 cr. Total: ₹ 91.70 cr. India biz.#Manikarnika biz at a glance...Week 1: ₹ 61.15 crWeek 2: ₹ 23.40 crWeekend 3: ₹ 7.15 crTotal: ₹ 91.70 crIndia biz.— taran adarsh (@taran_adarsh) February 11, 2019
To be fair, Manikarnika never lagged on the promotional front. It made a nice buzz before the release and opened well. Its business went fine in the first weekend, but there onwards it lost the steam. Kangana’s statements kept Manikarnika in headlines but even that has started losing sheen.
In such a scenario, calling out Alia and others also shows how she was expecting favour in return of a favour. Nothing wrong in that, but shouldn’t the prerogative remain with the person on the other side and not the seeker? And if you praised a film just because your film was releasing soon then it dilutes the gravitas of earlier support. It was simply a tactical move then and not genuine praise.
Kangana has always stood up for herself and that has earned her millions of fans, but making such comments may cast a doubt on her intentions.
Interact with Rohit Vats at Twitter/@nawabjha
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