Unpacking Kangana Ranaut’s feminism: Love her, hate her, ignore you cannot. On her 34th birthday, here’s taking a look at the double-edged feminism she is intent on promoting.
It’s the Queen of Bollywood’s birthday! With indomitable spirit, razor-sharp tongue and unfiltered candour that's rare in an industry as public as cinema, Kangana Ranaut turns 34 today. But it's not as easy as all that, subsuming the enigma of her personality into a few, well-chosen descriptors. Ranaut is more, as she has always been ever since she stepped foot into films in 2006. More than a National Award-winning actor, more than an influential public figure, and more than an equality-seeking feminist.
The female-centric screen successes she has delivered, the icons like Rani Mehra and Tanuja Trivedi she has given us, the likeable stage persona she has presented over the years should have placed her as a straightforward, unanimously-beloved star.
Instead, Kangana Ranaut is now one of the biggest dilemmas of our time. And the facet of it that makes us scratch our heads hardest is her controversial brand of feminism and the consequent question it prompts: Should we even be imparting the kind of time and importance as we do to it?
The Web Of Confusion In Kangana Ranaut's Feminism
Kangana Ranaut's feminism can best be described as a bubble of limited views with her in the centre of it, sitting on a throne. From ripped jeans to bringing the concept of feminism to films, everything seems to be for her and by her. No one does it better, going by what she says and how she says it. From Meryl Streep to Sridevi (to even Tom Cruise, for some reason), she has compared herself to everyone worth being compared to in cinema.
But can self-aggrandisement masquerading as self-love ever really count for inspiration? How much of it is short-sighted and selective? How much is actually meaningful? Is there really any relevance to your self-love when you punch-down someone else for when they do it?
Because at times she says amazing stuff like this:
But then she also says stuff like this:
And this:
Of course, she is free to believe what she wants. Nobody can spoon-feed another person human values to live by (beyond a certain age) because everyone creates their own. But what does one do when someone’s ideologies, put forward with incredible pomp and show no less, create a disadvantage for others? When discriminatory ideas become more than mere thoughts, what kind of dangers do they posit? When vague aggression turns into real and targeted attacks on public platforms?
Her speech has become increasingly, boldly communal. She openly endorses her caste. Her insults for female colleagues teeters between 'B-grade' and 'porn star.' And one of the biggest blows she has served, in my opinion, is to the discourse around mental health amid all that dirty industry mudslinging that ensued in the aftermath of Sushant Singh Rajput's death - when she mocked people's claims of depression or when she depreciated the threat of real-time drug abuse.
Can Kangana Ranaut's Feminism Ever Be Relatable?
For those following her closely for inspiration, what first becomes immediately discernible is all she says - every little and big bomb of thought she routinely drops. This is what contributes the largest to the image of what and who Kangana Ranaut is. Only beyond that roadblock lies her individual journey, which has been impressive, to say the least, of charting upwards in Bollywood. But is that something relatable or accessible to everyone?
A person with a 9-5 desk job may not find resonance in Ranaut taking on the alleged 'drug mafia' in Bollywood, but instead in how she validates their own biases and patriarchal dispositions. How much of her influence remains meritable then? If it feeds into the most backward notions holding large sections of society back, can it really be called public service?
Sometimes - sometimes - Ranaut does speak truth to power. For instance that her films have often spearheaded female-led content in Bollywood per box office numbers or that there exists a network of nepotism that rewards non-talents in Bollywood. That said, does it give her the leeway to insult, discriminate and badmouth without consequences? Can the hard-to-untangle knots in her feminist ideas be ignored only because she has the marvellous audacity to voice what she believes in?
It's undeniable, there isn't and can never be another Kangana Ranaut. But then again, should there ever even be?
Views expressed are the author's own.
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