Kangana Ranaut: A gem of B'wood, the Queen of hearts

From portraying a radical character to essaying an emotionally fragile role to playing a doomed character, Kangana has aced it all. Being an outsider, Bollywood's Queen Kangana has bagged the country's fourth-highest civilian honour - Padma Shri in her own right. On the occasion of International Women’s Day, ETV Bharat salutes the woman of substance Kangana Ranaut.

Mumbai: The Padma Shri awardee Kangana Ranaut has become the woman on the totem pole with the consistent effort that hardly any industry outsider could think of. Time and again, she has impressed everyone with her performance in films. Her not-so-smooth life story will give you a taste of controversy, hard work and fame.

From being an outsider to achieving the title of Bollywood's Queen, Kangana has bagged the country's fourth-highest civilian honour - Padma Shri in her own right, which none of her contemporary Bollywood actors have achieved.

Born in a small town in Himachal Pradesh, Kangana has nurtured an independent mindset since childhood. Despite growing up in a conservative environment, Kangana made her mind and jetted off to Delhi to live her life on her own terms at the age of 16.

Kangana auditioned for several movies, including Anurag Basu's 2006 thriller Gangster. The film was originally offered to Chitrangada Singh. Since she refused to do the film, Bollywood got its another creative gem Kangana Ranaut.

The year 2013 seemed to be a milestone in her career graph. The actor once again impressed the audience with Vikas Bahl's Queen. The simplicity of the character and her naivete in different situations won the hearts of the audience.

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Kangana has swum through several controversies and bitter criticism in life, both personally and professionally. But despite all this, Kangana has achieved the position that she deserved with all her hard work and dedication.

A woman of heart, she once turned down a million bucks fairness cream ad, stating that a person's colour does not make one superior or inferior.

The actor has been feted with three National Awards, 4 Filmfare and 2 IIFA Awards, with the latest addition being the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian honour of the country.

On the occasion of International Women’s Day, ETV Bharat salutes Kangana Ranaut who has been a source of inspiration to hundreds of thousands of women, besides winning the hearts of the audience with her exceptional acting skills.