What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear Kangana Ranaut's name? That she is a brilliant performer? That she is a recipient of three National Film Awards? That she is an emerging voice of feminism? Or that she serves as an inspiration to aspiring actors with her 'rags to riches' journey in the entertainment industry?
Ofcourse, there's no one who could question the amount of hard work that she has put in to get to a position where she is right now, but one cannot even escape from her outspoken, unapologetic and dominating nature.
One could argue that there's nothing wrong in being unabashedly vocal or putting forward your opinion. But does that mean you could go around spreading hatred and being disrespectful towards your colleagues? Absolutely not.
But when you look at Ms Ranaut, one just cannot rule out the fact how she has been oozing 'arrogance' and 'pride' ever since she has climbed up the ladder of success over the past few years. And many people are of the opinion that Ms Ranaut has already started walking on the path to self-destruction.
Ms Ranaut gave us a testament of that when she labelled veteran actress Shabana Azmi as 'anti-national' after the latter decided not to attend the two-day literary event about her father Kaifi Azmi in Pakistan as a sign of protest over the dastardly Pulwama terror attack. It was not just distasteful but downright racist and divisive as well. And this is not the first time, Ranaut has given labels to her contemporaries.
Over the past few weeks, Ranaut was on a bashing spree when she complained about how Bollywood stars like Deepika Padukone, Aamir Khan and Alia Bhatt, to name a few, have always failed to acknowledge her hard work.
Ranaut has always maintained that she is a self-made star and reached great heights without the nagging support and recommendation of A-list male stars. And one could ask her then why does she yearns for validation from the industry people and stay true to her words?
And just like many of us, Zoya Akhtar too failed to understand Ranaut's outcry against the Bollywood industry. People have always appreciated her work and has been conferred with several awards which itself is one of the biggest validation to her profession.
But one could also observe the fact that Ranaut, who is known for speaking her mind, cannot stand other people's opinions. And there are several such instances which validates that.
From calling Alia Bhatt a puppet of Karan Johar to throwing an open challenge to Sonu Sood, director Krish Jagarlamudi and Mishti Chakraborty, who complained about her rude behaviour, asking them to make a better film than Manikarnika. Others like Hrithik Roshan, Karan Johar, Apurva Asrani and Adhyayan Suman have also been at the receiving end of Ranaut's personal vendetta.
Newton's third law says "For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction" and it looks like it won't be long enough when Ranaut may soon start witnessing the destructive effect of constant nagging and criticism.
It is high time Ranaut should pick herself up and rise above the idea of taking pot-shots at contemporaries and prove her worth as the Queen of Bollywood.
