While growing up Kangana Ranaut, was “stubborn and rebellious”. “If my father would gift my brother a plastic gun and get a doll for me, I would not accept that. I questioned the discrimination.” These were her own words. She did not subscribe to the stereotypes that were expected of her and experimented with fashion from a young age, often pairing up accessories and clothes that would seem “bizarre” to her neighbours. The girl, who always lived on her terms and made it big to the world, suddenly come in limelight for unwanted controversies, this is not her first Bollywood affair. She is lady of many men in this industry. Hrithik Roshan and Kangana Ranaut’s nasty separation and subsequent court battle are hogging the limelight like their films. With ‘new facts’ being reported almost every day, here is a compilation of the events and how people have reacted to this. Kangana and Hrithik have worked together twice, first in Kites (2010) and then in Krrish 3 (2013). During Kites, Hrithik was rumoured to be involved with his co-star Barbara Mori. Reports of Hrithik-Kangana affair started doing the rounds after Krrish 3. They are said to have come close to each other during the shooting of this film. The Hrithik-Kangana affair rumour gained momentum after the actor officially separated from his wife Sussanne in December 2013. Whatever is the reason for their separation but both are very much established and well-known actors and these rumours are really not in good taste. Moreover, why media is giving too much importance to such issues is big question on its credibility.
In Delhi, Ranaut was unsure which career to choose; the Elite Modelling Agency were impressed by her looks and suggested that she model for them. She took on a few modelling assignments, but generally disliked the career as she found “no scope for creativity”. Ranaut decided to shift focus towards acting and joined the Asmita Theatre Group, where she trained under the theatre director Arvind Gaur. She participated in Gaur’s theatre workshop at the India Habitat Centre, acting in several of his plays, including the Girish Karnad-scripted Taledanda. During a performance, when one of the male actors went missing, Ranaut played his part along with her original role of a woman. A positive reaction from the audience prompted her to relocate to Mumbai to pursue a career in film and she enrolled herself for a four-month acting course in Asha Chandra’s Drama School.
Ranaut struggled with her meager earnings during this period, eating only “bread and aachar (pickle)”. Refusing her father’s financial assistance led to a rift in their relationship which she later regretted. Her relatives were unhappy with her decision to enter the film-making industry and they did not correspond with her for several years. She has established a career in Bollywood and is one of the highest-paid actresses in India. Ranaut is particularly known in the media for expressing her honest opinions in public and is frequently credited as one of the most fashionable Indian celebrities. She is the recipient of several awards, including three National Film Awards and Filmfare Awards in four categories.
Ranaut has stated that her initial years in the film industry were marred with difficulties as she was unprepared to be an actress. She was conscious of her poor command of the English language and struggled to fit in. During the struggle, Ranaut found support in the actor Aditya Pancholi and his wife Zarina Wahab and considered them her “family away from home”. She became embroiled in a well-publicised scandal when the media speculated on the nature of her relationship with Pancholi. She declined to speak about it openly, although she made several public appearances with him. In 2007, it was reported that Ranaut had filed a police complaint against Pancholi for physically assaulting her under the influence of alcohol. The following year, Pancholi confirmed the affair in an interview, saying that he had been cohabiting with Ranaut in the past and accused her of owing him Rs. 25 lakhs. In response, Ranaut’s spokesperson said that “after physically assaulting her in the middle of a road, he has no right to expect anything from her”, adding that she had “already given Rs. 50 lakhs to him as a goodwill gesture”. Ranaut later said that the incident had left her “physically and mentally” damaged. The affair saga did not stop here.
While filming Raaz, The Mystery Continues in 2008, Ranaut began a romantic relationship with co-star Adhyayan Suman. On Suman’s insistence that he focus on his professional career, the couple separated the following year. From 2010 to 2012, Ranaut was involved in a long-distance romance with Nicholas Lafferty, an English doctor, she described the relationship as “the most normal” she ever had, but the couple split amicably as she was not ready for marriage. She has since maintained that she will never get married, and has expressed a desire to not be bound by a relationship. Now, Hrithik Roshan, her co-star from Krrish 3, filed a lawsuit against Ranaut accusing her of cyber stalking and harassment. Denying the charges, Ranaut filed a counter-charge against Roshan, claiming that his lawsuit was an attempt to cover-up their affair for the benefit of his divorce proceedings.
Ranaut lives in Mumbai with her sister Rangoli, who was the victim of an acid attack in 2006. She makes yearly visits to her hometown of Bhambla. A practicing Hindu, Ranaut follows the teachings of the spiritual leader Swami Vivekananda and considers meditation to be “the highest form of worshipping God. However, she never found at peace. Is this some filmy gimmick or she as a person still in search of inner reconciliation, no one knows?
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