Kangana Ranaut, known to speak her mind, is glad that her comment on nepotism in Bollywood has stirred up a discussion in the industry. Speaking at News18’s Rising India Summit, Kangana gave her perspective on what it’s like for an outsider to work in the film industry.
“People are not responsible for you (the newcomer), you have to be persistent, observant to know things. Today I am talking about it because I made it to this level. I learnt,” she said.
Speaking on the nepotism debate, she clarified that she’s not an activist to do so. “I would love to serve my society; nepotism exists everywhere, we have grown up seeing it. When I talked about it, perhaps people were subconsciously observing it, they wanted to talk about it. My comment worked as a catalyst,” she said.
She further shed light on how it took her a long time to learn, times when she couldn’t comprehend the industry slang until much later.
“I did not understand the difference between shot and scenes, so if someone says you have two scenes now, I used to think, my work will get over in 30 minutes. I did not know about brand building and brand endorsement… when a magazine told me that they want to put me on their cover, I asked them to talk to my manager about money. They banned me for five years but I did not know the difference back then. So yes, coming from non-film background, I was also immature and no one was there to guide. I learnt.”
Attending the same event was Ranveer Singh who spoke about all the furore around Padmaavat. Likening the hate around the film to fascism, Ranveer said that he was angry about the whole protest but stayed away from it because it was beyond his control.
“When the Padmaavat sets were vandalised, my shock turned into rage. I couldn’t believe that we’re living in 2017. I had to be physically restrained. The equipment they broke provides livelihood to thousands. I value the sanctity of the set. It’s my place of worship. You don’t go to my place of worship and do this,” he said.
When asked about the support the film’s team may or may not have received from Bollywood, Ranveer said he was grateful to all those who stood in solidarity with Sanjay Leela Bhansali.
“I am proud to say that the film’s unit and I received a lot of support. Many eminent personalities backed us. Maybe, it didn’t galvanise into one unified movement, perhaps because of lack of communication or the timing.”
