Queen remains a timeless coming-of-age tale but has Kangana Ranaut’s persona burdened its legacy?

Kangana Ranaut’s Queen is one such character that has stuck to the actor like hot wax. The film created a wave both in the Hindi cinema and in the actor’s career. Much like her character Rani, Kangana found her voice through this film. She became the flagbearer of feminism, consequently calling out the evils of Bollywood and bringing the nepotism debate to the forefront. This was the time Kangana embraced her character beyond the limits of the big screen and brought it into her personal life. She destroyed stereotypes and with that the big egos of the Hindi film industry.

Hold on a moment. Are we getting distracted here? Shouldn’t our focus be on the film Queen and not Kangana? As I grapple with these questions, I come to realise that none of these contemporary debates affected my experience while revisiting Queen a decade after its release. It still evoked the same old fuzzy, joyful and hopeful feelings it did a decade ago, reminding me of my 20-something self navigating the intricacies of relationships and responsibilities in a big city only to find myself at the end of it all.

That’s the beauty of a wholesome coming-of-age film — anyone, regardless of age, can relate to it because coming into one’s own and realising self-worth is perhaps the most crucial part of anyone’s life, and Queen was among the first female-centric film to do that.

For instance, how many of us have avoided things that remind us of our first heartbreak but have gradually gotten over it? In Queen, Kangana’s Rani runs away from the Eiffel Tower after reaching Paris because it triggers memories of her ex-fiance Vijay’s (Rajkummar Rao) empty promises. It’s like running away from the music after reaching a nightclub. But Rani’s newfound friendship with Vijaylaxmi (Lisa Hayden) comes to her rescue in a foreign land. The female bond not only makes her forget her pain but, more significantly, empowers her to recognise all the possibilities that unfold when one truly loves oneself.

Kangana Ranaut’s Queen turns 10.

Vijay breaks Rani’s heart just two days before their wedding. Left alone with dark mehendi on her hands, Rani goes on their honeymoon solo. As she travels through Europe, the colour of the henna gradually fades — a poignant metaphor for Rani’s gradual healing and her journey toward newfound freedom and independence. In a pivotal scene towards the end of her European trip, Vijay resurfaces, seeking reconciliation. By this point, the mehendi on Rani’s hand has almost completely vanished, symbolising her liberation from the bitter break-up.

While Queen is about a heartbroken woman finding herself in Europe, it’s unabashedly desi. Rani comes from a typical neighbourhood in Rajouri Garden in Delhi and she proudly exhibits her Indiannes in Europe.

From getting tipsy and waving her sweater in the air before stashing it safely in her bag to spontaneously breaking into dance in front of a perplexed cab driver while exclaiming, “Dilli aao boss! Dilli aao!” — Rani epitomises everything local in a global setting. She even ventures to sell pani puri in Amsterdam and puts an Italian to shame when it comes to kissing. “Emraan Hashmi ki koe bhi film uthalo. Sab mein best kissing hai uske (Pick up any film of Emraan Hashmi, he is the best kisser),” she says. This is probably the most fun, authentic and effective promotion of India I have seen in a film. Perhaps better than all the chest-thumping jingoism that has become the new normal.

What worked for Queen, and continues to do so, is its genuine emotional core. It tells an honest tale with sincerity and without any ulterior motive. What also helped was that the audiences approached the theatres with open minds, devoid of any preconceived notions. At the time of its release, Kangana was simply an actor delivering what remains to be her career’s best performance. The controversies that later engulfed her, including the infamous 2017 Koffee With Karan episode and her shift from breaking stereotypes in Bollywood to adopting far-right anti-liberal views, had yet to surface.

But do these developments in the actor’s perception alter the way audiences view Queen after a decade? While it’s challenging to separate Kangana Ranaut the person from her on-screen personas these days, especially given her recent film choices, Queen stands independent from the actor’s personal identity. It remains a timeless piece of cinema that has endured the test of time and continues to resonate with audiences across generations. This begs the age-old question: Is it important to separate the art from the artist? Sometimes it is.