Kangna Ranaut: I don’t do ads because I can't sell a lie

Kangna Ranaut, who walked the ramp for Anju Modi on Day 2 of Shree Raj Mahal Jewellers India Couture Week, tells us how people were in denial about her character in Revolver Rani because they didn’t want to believe that Queen was a ‘lie’, how she met working girls while travelling alone in the US after watching the film, and why she never does endorsements.
How did you like what you wore on the ramp? I think it’s amazing, it’s beautiful.I can’t really tell how good Anju is ‘coz she’s one of the leading designers, and what she’s doing in cinema as well is so ahead of its time, and she’s giving a new face to fashion in the film industry. But with this particular show, the whole Manikarnika story is very refreshing – about the women of ancient India, who were so rooted in their religion, their tradition and society, mixed with the sensibilities of the contemporary woman. My outfit has embroidery, which is inspired from paintings, murals like those in Ajanta and Ellora. And she wanted to use my own curly hair, tied in a very nice, red carpet sort of way. It’s nice to have a woman designer as her central character is a woman, and it’s all very feminine.
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Is this your first association with Anju Modi? Somehow, I always end up in Couture Week (laughs). Yes, this is my first association with Anju. We just got to know each other a few months back, through common friends. And then, she saw Queen, and she sent me a very pretty kurta, ‘coz she loved it. It was a nice summer dress. And I thought it was very sweet of her ‘coz I always admired her work, and that’s how we became friends. I was in the US when she texted me about the show, and I agreed, ‘coz I’d love to wear her finale garment.
Your recent films have all had you either de-glam or with crazy outfits. Does that make it even more important for you to associate yourself with fashion and being seen as this stylish person off screen? I love fashion. I love the whole glamour side of it. Not that I’m very familiar with the fashion industry, but I really like it. Like how people might feel about the film industry – you think it’s so glamorous, and you don’t really know about all the hard work that goes into it, but you really like the whole ramp walk and paparazzi. I love it. It’s a very immature way of looking at it! But I like to dress up (laughs).
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After Queen and Revolver Rani, are heroes terrified to work with you now? (Laughs) No. I think I never look forward to all those male-dominated films, and I’m getting good offers where, if not more, my role is equal, like in Tanu Weds Manu and Reema’s film. There are many examples where my role is as important as the male lead.
So are the films where you just have to be the ‘heroine’ and look good, completely out for you? Absolutely. Out long back!
You did back-to-back films where you completely trample over the male protagonist - people get two such roles in a decade. How did you get them one right after the other? It was quite difficult to accommodate those drastic characters, to shoot for them back-to-back, and then for them to release back-to-back (laughs). For everyone, it was too much.
Do you think you’re emerging as the poster girl for ‘I don’t care about a happily ever after’ and ‘I’m not the girl you take home to mummy’? I think these films have given that impression, but that’s really not the idea. If you see Tanu Weds Manu, it has a very strong love story, and the realisation of love and how they find it. I’d love to do films like Queen and Revolver Rani once in a while, but I don’t think there’s an agenda, or something that I’m trying to preach, or that it has anything to do with my perspective on a man-woman relationship. It’s just for the sake of films which are not limited to specific concepts, or do the same thing over and over again, and people getting bored to death. And it’s just a reflection of society. There are women who want to do their own thing and are independent, not that they don’t want love, but– on their own terms.
You had said earlier, that just after Revolver Rani’s narration, your sister said, ‘You’re not doing this film!’ and you were like, ‘Yes, I am!’ So what did she say after she watched the film? Why don’t you ask her yourself! Rangoli: I was like, wow. Now, Revolver Rani is my favourite film (laughs). I liked it even more than Queen. Kangna: Revolver (Rani) got polarising reactions, someone gave us one star and someone gave us four-and-a-half. It was polarising – my sister likes Revolver while my parents liked Queen better.
You have said earlier that in this country, people love you for your character – if it’s very goody-goody – that you can’t be an Anthony Hopkins, who is loved for playing a baby-meat eater. And that after Queen, girls and women would come and hug you and told you they loved you, and you said that was because they loved the character. So did all that love disappear after Revolver? No one agrees with me. In Hollywood, there’s a great market where you make these really edgy films, or ironic films, the style, and all of that. But I felt that as an actor, what people felt for me in Queen was kind of holding them back from accepting me as Revolver Rani. Everyone dismissed this view, they were all like, ‘No, no., no, Queen gave you so much popularity, it’s only going to help...’ but I have a feeling that Revolver Rani’s character was so cruel without any reason, it was a dark character, a really dark person. And that acceptance from people – I could be wrong – didn’t come. They were so into Queen. Even today, I was just in the US, and girls would meet me everyday – they had just left their homes, they were working, ‘coz most girls in metro cities are working, and they never thought of using their money like that – that I can really buy a ticket. An economy class ticket costs nothing if you have good savings after a 4-5 year job. And then, they are booking these motels and they’re having dates and they’re going out and having fun, and then they spot me and they go, ‘We can’t believe this, we just saw Queen! And we’re meeting you here, and you are on your own!’ It’s really funny, but that’s the impact of Queen. It’s unreal. So I think my Revolver Rani sort of (bursts into laughter)...
People were in denial that that was you? Yeah! I think they didn’t want to get over that hangover, it’s still lingering on. Even when Anju came to meet me, she was just talking about Queen, as if I’ve not done anything else in my life! I think for everyone, it was hard to accept that someone who’s influencing us in such a strong way, then, within two weeks you’re telling me that it wasn’t true? Even Vikas (Bahl, Queen’s director) called me to say that his friend’s sister had called her wedding off, ‘coz she thought it was gonna lead nowhere. So there’s that impact, and you see Revolver Rani and you’re like ‘that was all a lie?’ Like I said, Revolver (Rani) wasn’t for everyone, it was for certain people, but even those certain people didn’t see it.
After a long time, Queen was one film where there was a lot of humour riding on the female protagonist. Because usually, it’s the hero who does all the comedy, and if there’s a female comedian she’s either fat or there’s something wrong with her, so the audience laughs at her, not with her. Why do you think there’s so little humorous writing for women in films? Because all the writers are men. It’s hard to think from another perspective. And the writing, I feel, is very mediocre, apart from a few good writers, who’re doing great work. Men tend to think an ideal woman is someone who’s definitely very attractive etc, and it’s hard for them to understand or accept a woman who’s funny. Why would she be funny? But I think they generally lack humour, like you’ll never see the main hero being funny, it’s always the sidekick who’s doing the funny things. The hero’s just this stiff and serious and a macho guy. There is no other dimension to his character. So, if they don’t give dimension to men, how will they give character to women? So, that’s just bad writing.
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Why are you never seen in ads? Initially, when I came in, I wanted to do all these advertisements and be seen on TV, but with time, I am beginning to feel that I really don’t want to do all that. Because most things are instilling bad values in our youth and pulling our country back – like fairness is such a big deal. Making people feel that you don’t get a job or your parents are stressed because you’re darker, and you go find a tube and then you turn all fair. There were other issues I had with endorsements – it’s just about lying. Most things don’t contain what they say, like this fruit or that fruit. I really can’t sell a lie. Why would I tell girls that it’s important for them to be a certain way and do a Queen? I’d much rather do a Queen, and at this stage, take responsibility for what I do. When I step out of my country, people laugh at us for selling fairness creams – ‘we can’t believe that in this time and age, you Indians do this to your own race. You bring yourself down’. When a white guy sees that, we tell them that you guys are superior, and we want to be like you all. Black people don’t do that, no one does that. So it’s bringing our race down, and I’ve rejected many offers, because everything in India... it’s hard to actually believe that even an acne cream has fairness in it, soap has fairness in it, and bleach and... all these brands I have rejected because nothing sells without fairness. These people come to me, and they say, ‘Don’t talk to us like we’re the villains because it’s the market.’ I said, ‘I’m not saying I’m gonna change the world, or that even one person will stop buying fairness creams after reading my interview. But I can sleep at night knowing that I’m happy with myself and doing my bit.’ That’s why I’m not doing things I don’t believe in.
So you do think actors have this responsibility? They should. Most of them don’t. I feel the responsibility since that’s how I am as a person. It doesn’t matter if you’re an actor or not, but who you are as an individual. They are irresponsible people, and if that’s how they feel, it’s up to them!
WATCH: QUEEN - Official Trailer