Kangana Ranaut has had quite the year. Be it good news or bad, the actress has dominated headlines primarily because of her alleged affair gone sour with Hrithik Roshan, calling Karan Johar the ‘flagbearer of nepotism‘ on his chat show Koffee With Karan and her dispute with Apurva Asrani over writing credits for the film Simran. Whichever side you’re on, you can’t deny that some of her statements were incredibly badass. Let’s have a look at some of her best lines in 2017 –
1) On sexism –
By and large, the system is not comfortable with an actress being intelligent. Too bad if she is smarter than the male lead. And worse, if she is smarter than the director.
2) On being relatable AF –
I swing between being a bitch and Buddha.
3) On the hypocrisy of the world’s attitude towards sex –
Having sex for a man is about having fun, but for a woman it’s a bad thing. When it is an affair of a son, you will see so many men brag about it… that my son is this Casanova, what else will he do in his youth except for having multiple affairs. But when it comes to their girls, there are restrictions. How dare my girl get into films? How dare people see her in mini skirts? These are the petty reasons. I wish it was something else. It’s very ‘My girl is going to wear bikinis? No! Meanwhile wouldn’t mind 15 bikini clad women around me or my son.
4) On seizing every opportunity –
I will take what is mine, be it by fighting or any other means.
5) On responding to Saif Ali Khan’s ridiculous ‘eugenics’ open letter –
Are you implying that artistic skills, hard-work, experience, concentration spans, enthusiasm, eagerness, discipline and love, can be inherited through family genes? If your point was true, I would be a farmer back home. I wonder which gene from my gene-pool gave me the keenness to observe my environment, and the dedication to interpret and pursue my interests.
6) On not being an ‘outsider’ –
What is an outsider? We are all working to make cinema. Anyone working for some other intention is an outsider.
7) On commanding a high price for every movie she signs –
I give you a year and a half, my working hours, my depiction of a character. Even today after winning three National Awards, if people feel I’m not good enough, I’m not going to succumb to the mind set.
8) On not going out of her way to make friends in the industry –
It’s taken for granted that women should be receptive of whatever and whosoever comes (to or in ) their way. But there is a possibility that she is genuinely disinterested and wants to be in her shell. It’s just that I don’t waste time on equations that are not going anywhere or don’t add to my life in any way. It will be a waste of time.
9) On the ‘woman card’ people accuse her of using –
What is this about the ‘woman card’ and the ‘victim card’? This kind of talk is demeaning to all women, particularly the vulnerable because they are the ones who really need to use them. I am not fighting Karan Johar, I am fighting male chauvinism. Now that Karan is the father of a little daughter, he should provide her with all these cards – the ‘woman card’ and the ‘victim card’, as also the ‘self-made-independent-woman card’, and the ‘badass card’ that I flashed on his show. We will use whatever we need to ensure no one rocks our boat.
10) And finally, on roasting Karan Johar after he said she should leave the industry if she is that terrorised by it –
The Indian film industry is not a small studio given to Karan by his father when he was in his early 20s. That is just a small molecule. The industry belongs to every Indian and is highly recommended for outsiders like me whose parents were too poor to give me a formal training. I learnt on the job and got paid for it, using the money to educate myself in New York. He is nobody to tell me to leave it. I’m definitely not going anywhere, Mr Johar.
Never change Kangana!