Kangna Ranaut talks about her films, life and stardom in a candid interview

In this age of cookie-cutter heroines with stock responses, Kangana Ranaut is refreshingly real and honest. Sitting in her fancy abode in between answering calls and replying to messages, the actress tells us candidly about issues past and present...

You played the role of a mutant in Krrish 3 and your performance was appreciated...
Krrish3 is the biggest release of my career till now, though my other movies were hits but they became big gradually. This is big right from the first day. I am getting calls and messages from the UK and US and I think it's like a re-launch for me. Doing this film was a beautiful experience, the figures are an encouragement, but the time I spent shooting on this film was great. They (the producers) treated me with a lot of kindness and being treated like a princess is an overwhelming feeling.

How often do you visit Manali? Can you still roam around freely or has stardom stopped you from doing so?
My mother has organised the 'Mrityunjay Path' for us there and she has been asking me to attend it. After the promotions for Rajjo are done, I will go to New York and after that I will make a quick visit to Manali.


That place, however, is not the same place that I grew up in. I can't be free there any longer. The mountain people are generally simple, but the new generation is Bollywood savvy and crazy. Once around 1,000 students came to me and each one of them wanted an autograph!

Would you succumb to this constant pressure on the actresses to look young?
I started my career at 17 and now I am 26. I don't know how I will react to the first wrinkle on my face and my youth slipping away. Hopefully, I will expect myself to be mature and look beautiful even with the grey hair and wrinkles.

I have been honest about everything and I don't think I would want to cover it up. I remember as a kid when I saw a wrinkle on my mother's face, I kept thinking why is my mother getting old, but that thought was just there for half an hour. It is more important to be loved. Because looking young forever but not being loved would be a sad place to be in.


Your personal life was under a lot of scrutiny at one point of time. Do you regret anything?
Young girls fall into ugly traps. Those things were the worst things, which can happen to a girl, and girls are made to blame themselves. Somewhere, I want to talk about it because it's something I have been through and it has made me the strong person I am today. I did not hold anything back or tried covering anything up. I meditate and heal myself everytime I think about it. Over the years I have learnt to deal with it and I am not ashamed of it. I am proud of myself and I want to tell all those girls out there that they should be proud of themselves.