Kangana Ranaut snaps at journo over question on rejecting films with Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan; claims Bollywood heroes exploit women

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In the same interview, Kangana Ranaut also spoke about turning down opportunities to work with the Khans. When asked if she would make the same choice today, the actor-politician responded firmly, emphasising that she is successful in her own right. Claiming that Kangana had declined roles alongside Salman Khan in Bajrangi Bhaijaan (2015) and Shah Rukh Khan in Zero (2018), the News18 interviewer asked whether she had any issues with these actors. “There was a time when I wanted to work with them. But I struggled for 10 years when everyone dismissed me saying I wasn’t going to reach anywhere. This was because I did not fit into the normal format of doing an item song, two other tracks and a comedy scene. When I did not get that work, I achieved success through a different route through movies like Queen (2013), Tanu weds Manu (2011) and Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi (2019). I, as a woman, found my own existence in this industry,” she said while not denying that she was offered roles in the aforementioned films with Salman and Shah Rukh Khan. The actor, however, questioned why she should take on side roles now, having already earned public appreciation for the films she chose to do.

When the interviewer once again pressed about the Khans, as if trying to provoke a response, Kangana retorted, “What are you trying to prove by evoking their names so much, that they are something so big? What are they? You said I am also a great actor, right? Isn’t that enough?”

When asked if she would consider working with them in the future if the opportunity arose, Kangana Ranaut replied, “It’s not like I have ever tried to undermine any actor with my performance. You too might feel same sometimes, right, that you are better off at your home itself with the identity you have received? Because of me, the little girls who will step in in the future will also believe that women can also have identity.”

Kangana further alleged that “these” heroes exploit women a lot. “They call them for dinners, message them and ask them to come home,” she claimed. Kangana, however, finally said that she has no issues with any of the Khans or Kumars, while indirectly admitting that she would act alongside them if given the chance.

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“Look at the Kolkata rape and murder case. Look at rape threats to me. We know that we do not respect women. The film industry is no different. College boys comment on women. Film heroes are no different. They are also like this. We know how a woman is treated at a workplace,” she said.

Kangana Ranaut then recalled late veteran choreographer Saroj Khan’s comments on predatory behaviour in Bollywood. “She had been working in the industry even before I was born. She was once asked about rape and sexual assault in the film industry when she said, ‘Rape toh karte hai par roti bhi dete hai (They rape but also give rot).’ This is the situation of our daughters in this film industry,” she claimed.