Click to play videoWith her performances in such films as Gangster, Woh Lamhe and Fashion, actor Kangana Ranaut has emerged as the go-to girl for challenging roles in Bollywood. Unusually matured for a 22-year-old, Kangana says she doesn't take her star status too seriously.
CNN-IBN Entertainment Editor Rajeev Masand spoke to Kangana. Excerpts from the interview:
Rajeev Masand: You didn't grow up wanting to be an actress, did you? I read somewhere that you were studying to be a doctor in Shimla and the acting ambitions came much later. Do you wonder sometimes how your life would have turned out had you pursued your education and never moved to Mumbai?
Kangana Ranaut: I never go into the 'what ifs'. This is because maybe I never had the time to think. Life has moved very fast for me like when I was 16 I decided to do something different. At that point my family did not support me because they were worried about me. I was so young and restless then. After that things went really fast for me. I was completely smitten by the world of theater and modeling. I was like a child lost in a candy shop.
Rajeev Masand: You made a big impression with your first film Gangster. And then with Woh Lamhe you pretty much solidified your reputation. Would you say that you learnt acting from watching movies?
Kangana Ranaut: No, I think my idea of acting got cleared while I was doing theatre. Like for an example, the director of Slumdog Millionaire had said that he could not find one ordinary looking guy in India for the main role. He had to import him from London. So when a girl goes for an audition, she thinks that being an actress is all about fake eyelashes, pouting or being a sex object. They really don't know what it is being an actress. I remember going for Gangster's audition without makeup. I told Anurag (Basu) that you will give me the character to play so you tell me what clothes to wear or how to look.
Rajeev Masand: That is because you are one of those actresses who looks very good without make-up. So you can get away without all that.
Kangana Ranaut: (smiles) No, the fact is that I got my fundas cleared while doing theater. I got to know what exactly an actor's job is.
Rajeev Masand: You tend to play a lot of disturbed characters. And as a result you have been accused of being repetitive in your performances – Gangster, Woh Lamhe, Metro, Fashion, and even Raaz 2. Do you feel that filmmakers have identified your strength and now they only cast you in these neurotic characters.
Kangana Ranaut: When we come from outside (of Bollywood) we don't have an option you know. I am not Yash Chopra's daughter that I can tell him that I want to do a film based on dance because I can dance really well. So you basically have no option since you are at the receiving end. The other reason is that there has never been an actress who... I have heard stories about actresses who have said, "I can't smoke onscreen" but they do smoke in real life. They want to come across as marriage material people.
Even Madhur (Bhandarkar) sir told me during Fashion that if I wasn't in the film industry then maybe he would not have kept that track because nobody who have done that (role) wherein I had to take cocaine. This is because somewhere they (actors) take themselves too seriously and think that if they play a role like that then people will start hating them.
Rajeev Masand: At 22 Kangana you have done more challenging roles than many of your seniors. As a result of that you tend to get strong character roles but not the lead or the central characters. In Fashion your's was the tricky role but Priyanka played the lead. Even in Kites, you are not being promoted as the romantic lead opposite Hrithik Roshan.
Kangana Ranaut: It's strange when a role is offered to an actress in a film industry the first question that they ask is who is opposite me. Then the second question is how many songs do I have.
Rajeev Masand: You never ask these questions?
Kangana Ranaut: No, because that is not my concern. I am not here for that. I mean I am not going to get married to that guy so why should I ask whom am I am romancing in a movie. So I think somewhere I just want to preserve that about me. I don't want to learn or do these things because they make no sense to me. Actors are not even 10 per cent part of filmmaking so then to come up with these ideas of why I am not there in a certain way is...
Rajeev Masand: What you are saying is very interesting because most actors behave like they are the 110 per cent of the film.
Kangana Ranaut: That is not true but there is a reason why this happens. Some actors are made to feel like that. So it is very difficult to keep your head on your shoulders and know who you really are. Actors sometimes get more money than the directors. They sometimes even make more money than the producers I think.
Rajeev Masand: Where does this maturity come from. You are only 22, there are so many actors older than you who don't seem to be so mature.
Kangana Ranaut: I am much more than just an actor. I don't take myself so seriously. It has not gone to my head. I am a girl who knows her mind. I read a lot, I have been a science student. Being an actor is just my job amongst many things that I do like I cook well, I can sing and dance.
Rajeev Masand: Your personal life has been the fodder for as long as you have been here. Whether it was your relationship with an older actor or your recent breakup with Adhyayan Suman, there were rumours that his father didn't approve of the relationship. Is it difficult to live under a microscope constantly?
Kangana Ranaut: Yes, it is. Just today somebody was asking me about some 'secret' in my life. And I said since I was 18, when I started, there is no secret that is left to know. Everything has been so much in public that I really have no secrets. The fact that I know how to cook to the name of my pet – everything is there on some website or publication. There are times when you really feel that you don't have a life of your own especially when the media adds its own tadka and masala to such things. So it seems very weird at times.
Rajeev Masand: Finally, I ask you this question because you seem very grounded. You understand that acting and a career in movies has a very limited shelf life. Do you wonder what after this?
Kangana Ranaut: See that is what I told you. I am not just an actor. I am much more than that. So I would do wherever my heart takes me. I could become a chef or become a painter. Maybe a singer, dancer or even a director. I can do anything as long as I have the passion for it.
Rajeev Masand: So what is the one dish that we must eat when one goes for dinner to your place?
Kangana Ranaut: One thing I make really well is Dum Murg.
Rajeev Masand: Thank you so much for talking to us.
Kangana Ranaut: Thank you.
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