Overview

• Speaking at a PHDCCI event in New Delhi, Kangana Ranaut said her path to mainstream success was tougher than Shah Rukh Khan’s.
• She contrasted her upbringing in Bhamla, Himachal Pradesh, with Khan’s Delhi, convent-educated background, recalling that she moved to Mumbai as a teenager and debuted at 19 in Gangster.
• Ranaut said she believes being “brutally honest,” with others and herself, is a key reason for her career achievements.
• Her remarks received wide coverage and prompted discussion across media and social platforms about privilege and origin narratives in Bollywood.
• Now a BJP MP from Mandi who continues to act, she follows the poor box-office performance of Emergency with a planned Hollywood debut titled Blessed Be the Evil, and Indian outlets report upcoming sequels including Queen 2 and Tanu Weds Manu 3.