Kangana Ranaut is capable of many things, putting out professional fires is not one of them. And in spite of the chaos surrounding Manikarnika, Ranaut’s latest film is showing no signs of slowing down at the box office in the near future. Earning a reported 61 crore in its first week, the film has already more than recovered its estimated budget of Rs 50 crore.
And for her to have picked up an unpopular fight with a successful director – Ranaut has again proved that for her, suffering in silence is not an option. She will speak her mind, and will not mince her words. Seeing her vanquish multiple hurdles around the film’s release and landing a film with such ambition, it’s hard not to see parallel narratives of the actor and her character in Manikarnika.
We can accuse Ranaut of being controversy’s favourite child, but here’s the thing. What Ranaut has managed by saving her film from sinking is something Bollywood only associates with the ‘men’ of the industry (with significantly more clout).
For most part of her career, Ranaut has alienated most quarters of the industry. In recent years, her actions (and statements) have all but alienated the “left liberal” in India. She seems to think an oversimplification approach towards “cow slaughter” is the answer India needs. Even when she dares Karni Sena to mess with her, her statement comes across as casteist.
Yet, she has carved a space for her vanity project and even gone ahead to release it, something most male superstars have previously done. How many female superstars, before Ranaut, have been able to pull this off?
Manikarnika, may or may not, be a great film. But we have to recognise Kangana Ranaut’s valour for bringing together a film of this size while also managing to make it profitable for her producers. This is something few A-list actors have had the courage to venture into, forget executing it successfully.
Kangana Ranaut doesn’t know about going gently into that good night, but if she can deliver a decent performance and shoulder a film’s commercial responsibility, then does it even matter?
