From a dark horse to a champion, from the bullied to the bully, Kangana Ranaut is a brand for Nari Shakti born out of cinema , tailor-made for Indian politics.
A serendipitous stint or a planned out plot in politics? Kangana Ranaut is BJP’s weapon unveiled.
It was all good till Kangana Ranaut, an outsider who found success in the industry solely through her relentless pursuit was fighting the battle of sexes. Back in 2017, during her interview on “Aap Ki Adalat”, she proved herself to be a woman of steel – someone who didn’t shy away from demanding what was rightfully hers. She became a role model for feminists overnight, an inspiration for those not wanting to change, but smash the patriarchal setup that dominates the Indian society.
Ms Ranaut was later termed as a troublemaker and a misfit by the media. Calling out Bollywood mafias – from narcotics to nepotism – voicing her opinions, absolutely unhinged, on the misogyny pervading in Bollywood, even going so far as to shame women who do not align with her school of thoughts.
Watch: Kangana Ranaut on Directors, Nepotism and Films | IndiaTV
Guess, the whole shebang was too good to be true to actually stay fair, for the 33-year-old seems clueless about the true idea of inter-sectional feminism. Media is abuzz with her latest bout with the Government of Maharashtra amid the ongoing investigation of actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s suicide.
Following the tussle with the ruling Shiv Sena party after BMC’s demolition drive on the allegedly illegal portion of her office, Ms Ranaut had a 45-minute long meeting with Maharashtra Governor BS Koshyari on Sunday. She later claimed, “I am no politician. I have no connection with politics. I presented my thoughts as a commoner.”
Watch: Kangana Ranaut Demands Apology From Shiv Sena Minister Sanjay Raut | Frankly Speaking | Times Now
Do we have a politician in making?
If one really tries to make sense of the events unfolding, there seems to be a method to the madness. As for Ms Ranaut, she is a known loyalist of the present central government, one of the fiery ones who unflinchingly use nationalism as a means of polarization. Perhaps too much for the industry, but Kangana Ranaut certainly has the right amount of lunacy and chutzpah that thrives in Indian politics. She is that particular category of a dark horse, one that is born and bred for Indian Politics. At least the narrative has spun out so.
Despite Kangana Ranaut insisting that she would never be involved in Indian politics, she is the textbook definition of an ideal Indian politician – A Bollywood “Queen” and a victim of rampant nepotism in the eyes of her fan base which spans across North India’s Hindi Heartland. She would be an outstanding addition to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s arsenal at the BJP, perfectly aligned and inclined ideologically.
A Bollywood “Queen” and a victim of rampant nepotism in the eyes of her fan base which spans across North India’s Hindi Heartland.
The latest twitter rant by Ms Ranaut, in reaction to Member of Parliament and legendary actor Jaya Bachchan’s statement during the monsoon session of the Indian Parliament, sparked many reactions from Bollywood as well as political quarters across the country. Ms Bachchan’s statement was in reference to fellow Parliamentarian and actor Ravi Kishan’s claims about drug-usage in the Bollywood.
She said, “I was really embarrassed and ashamed that yesterday (September 14) one of our members in the Lok Sabha, who is from the industry, spoke. I am not taking names. It is a shame… I think it is very very important that the government must support this industry and not kill it. Just because there are few people, you cannot tarnish the image of the entire industry.”
Although many in the industry appreciated the MP’s response, Kangana Ranaut reacted rather in distaste.
The actor tweeted, “Jaya ji would you say the same thing if in my place it was your daughter Shweta beaten, drugged and molested as a teenage, would you say the same thing if Abhieshek complained about bullying and harassment constantly and found hanging one day? Show compassion for us also.”
Ms Ranaut is a victim-cum-attacker, a rare combo that could serve well for the BJP against Bollywood, most of which aligns with Shiv Sena’s Maharashtra government. She’s already doing the job overwhelmingly well, bashing left,right and centre on Twitter and TV, all while gracefully playing photo-booth with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
BJP‘s secret weapon?
Ms Ranaut may have been labelled a drama queen by the elitists of the industry, but she is a bigger household name in most Hindi-speaking parts of India than the most of the elites. She resonates with the principled traditional as well as the fiery modern – a woman who knows how to fight back.
Her real life persona does well to mirror a highly revered woman freedom fighter and warrior queen Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi, enshrined in poems and lores. Interestingly, Kangana Ranaut played the nationalistic icon in her self-produced mega-project Manikarnika.
For a major section of India’s middle-class, Ms Ranaut’s overwhelming voice in the Sushant Singh Rajput case stands justified. She is a small-town girl who made it big, fighting for a small-town boy who made it big but found his dreams cut short by untimely demise. This kind of reverence for the outrageous often turns into bias and then spills into other matters of importance. For instance, the electoral landscape.
As multiple state-level elections in the Hindi heartland follow, Ms Ranaut could very well serve as BJP’s hidden Ace of Spades — appealing to voters across all backgrounds. A brand of Nari Shakti, the star actor’s often outspoken persona is highly regarded by many factions of the neo-middle class. Perhaps the saffron party has found a brand new, more discerning version of the fiery parliamentarian and current Minister of Textiles, GoI, Ms Smriti Irani.
As they say, an apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. While Ms Ranaut’s public support of the BJP and PM Modi has revealed her inclination, politics also runs in her blood, being the great-granddaughter of a 15-year Congress MLA Sarju Singh Ranaut.
As multiple state-level elections in the Hindi heartland follow, Ms Ranaut could very well serve as BJP’s hidden Ace of Spades – appealing to voters across all backgrounds.
An A-lister in Bollywood, where celebrities hardly express their religious ideologies so openly, she perfectly ticks all the boxes for a strong addition to the BJP. In all, Kangana Ranaut increasingly looks like a political plot waiting to burst into something unexpected at any moment.
