Kangana Ranaut: Her Own Hero

She's the hero in her films. But even before that she is the hero of her life. Jitesh Pillai unravels the bestseller that is Kangana Ranaut.

- Jitesh Pillai

Small starts precede big bashes. This holds true for Kangana Ranaut. The heroine du jour. Her life is the stuff pulpy paperbacks are made of. Her life is also the stuff that true-grit stories are made of. She started from scratch and rose to the top of the heap. Through the indignities heaped on her because of her modest beginnings, her pahadi accent and some of the murky choices. Her walk has always been on the wild side so it seems a lil’ incongruous to expect her to aerosol the room with good intentions. I say let the mascara flow. She started the fire. She started the bonfire. We are feeling the heat. With solid back to back performances in Queen and Tanu Weds Manu Returns, Kangana Ranaut has showtownl’s A-listers queuing up to sign her. Talk is that shel’s upped the ante and is reportedly asking for a whopping 11 crores. Top heroines covet her roles and even SMS her directors behind her back begging them to cast them free of cost. But such is Kangana’s clout that people are willing to wait. At a time when she could have easily done Bajrangi Bhaijaan and Sultan, which were offered to her, she chose to tread uncharted and dangerous territories with Vishal Bhardwaj (Rangoon), Ketan Mehta (Rani Laxmibai) and Hansal Mehta (Simran). Right now weeks away from her latest release Nikhil Advani's Katti Batti, a romantic sortie on live-in relationships, I repair to her tastefully done up apartment. A mix of Frida Kahlo and Parisian je ne sais quoi. I gulp down my coffee to ask:

Katti Batti advocates live-in relationships. What is your take on it?