New Delhi: Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut recently sparked headlines for lashing out at a journalist at the song launch event of her upcoming film 'Judgementall Hai Kya'. At a recent media interaction, Kangana justified her reaction.
The 'Queen' of controversies said she was fed up with a section of Mumbai media who has ganged up against her for speaking up against B-town biggies such as Hrithik roshan and Karan Johar.
Speaking to IANS, Kangana said, "If you are referring to the recent media incident, honestly, I noted that since I have raised my voice against certain Bollywood biggies --- whether it is Hrithik Roshan, Karan Johar or any other --- a lot of that Mumbai media has ganged up against me."
Kangana's spat with Johar began in 2017 when she labelled the filmmaker as 'intolerant' towards outsiders and a 'flagbearer of nepotism', on his popular chat show 'Koffee With Karan'.
While on Hrithik, the actor and Kangana were involved in a row that began after she hinted at Hrithik being her "ex-boyfriend". This was followed by an exchange of legal complaints and mud-slinging
At the launch of song, 'The Wakhra swag' last week, Kangana questioned a journalist over his negative remarks on her last release, 'Manikarnika: The Queen Of Jhansi'.
While the majority of the media community continued to boycott her, Kangana refused to bow down and continued to blame the media for making the actor lose her temper.
"A lot of nasty stories are reported everyday and that has been going on for the past two to three years. I was just so fed up. Everything that happened was just a reaction to that kind of pressure, because of all the maligning and smear campaign against me. Otherwise, I feel I have earned a lot of goodwill. Even in media I have great friends and some great advisors," said the actress.
Kangana went on to say, "I have friends in the media who I would call and have broken down in front of them, and they have never written about it. But like I say 'everyone who call themselves an actor are not actors', similarly the media people who abuse their position of power to bully a girl or to gang up on someone are not pursuing what I consider journalism."
READ | Press Club stands by decision to boycott Kangana
Talking about criticism, the 'Queen' actor said, "Criticism, bullying and trolling are different things. Criticism in Hindi is 'samiksha'. If you are analyse a film like 'Judgementall Hai Kya' (it) can be analysed in a certain way, but if you make a 'Bhagat Singh' or 'Rang De Basanti' or 'Manikarnika: Queen Of Jhansi' (you have to have a different approach). You cannot analyse Bobby (her character in 'Judgementall Hai Kya') and Lakshmi Bai (the same way). There are strict rules," she stressed.
Kangana says she would not mind if people make fun of her but asserted that a martyr's name should not be made light of.
"You cannot make fun of a martyr's name. It is not acceptable. Can you make fun of Bobby? Yes. Can you make fun of me? Yes. These are very clear guidelines. I was upset about somebody distorting a martyr's name," she said.
"That was hurtful. Maybe, I became sensitive because I studied her life in detail. But I am certain if I was not playing Rani Laxmi Bai, it would still be deeply hurtful to hear something like that," she said.
The Members of the Entertainment Journalists' Guild of India (EJGI) on July 10 collectively decided to boycott Kangana Ranaut and demanded a public apology following the ugly spat between the national award-winning actress and a journalist.
The members have now sent a letter to the film's producer Ekta Kapoor, terming the actress's behaviour as "uncalled-for".
With inputs from IANS.
