Kangana Ranaut was under the limelight last year for raising the issue of nepotism. Present at the Rising India Summit of News18, the actress mentioned that outsiders should not feel discouraged if they face discrimination in the industry. According to IANS reports, Kangana said, “It is okay to be discriminated against if you are an outsider because there are things that one does to know as an outsider newcomer. 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.”
Referring to her personal experiences of her struggling days, she said, “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.”
Talking about whether she was successful in changing Karan Johar’s perception with her strong statements about nepotism, Kangana said, “I am no one to do that, my intention was not that. He believes in bloodlines, dynasty and such talents worked for him, isn’t it? I cannot make him believe in talents that he does not believe in. but I can say what I want to say.”
“I said it (about nepotism) out of observation, I am not an activist here, though 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.”
