Mumbai, Aug 30
Actress-filmmaker and BJP MP Kangana Ranaut, who is gearing up for the release of her upcoming film “Emergency”, has talked about receiving threats, politics,
Read excerpts:
The film is finally set to release on September 6, How does it feel ?
Kangana: Hopefully. “My film got cleared by the censor. And the day we were about to get the certificate, a lot of people did a lot of drama. There are a lot of issues with the censor as well. So I hope it gets released. Because suddenly, as they say, the carpet is pulled from someone's feet. I was very confident that I got the certification. But now they are not giving me my certificate.”
“And it's getting too late. I hope the film comes on time. Otherwise, I am determined to fight for it. I am determined to even go to court to protect my film. To save my right as an individual. You can't change history and scare us by threats. We have to show the history. An almost 70-year-old woman was shot 30-35 times in her house... Someone must have killed her. Now you want to show it…
"Because apparently, you think you can hurt someone. But you have to show the history. So how did she die?”
“So I said, let's put a plate on the wall that she died because she was shot in the sky. If they are going to suppress the voice of an artiste and my creative liberty… Some people have wielded their guns and we are not afraid of guns. Today, I have got rape threats. I am also getting rape threats, but they can’t suppress my voice.”
What would you say to those who claim that Kangana looks more like Indira Gandhi than Indira Gandhi herself in the film?
Kangana: “That is a really nice compliment. It is such a heartwarming compliment. I have heard it a lot. And there is a very senior critic also. He also said that you are more Indiraji than Indiraji herself. Kudos to all the departments. Ranging from the prosthetics, to the hair department, and costumes, makeup. It is such a fantastic job they have done.”
“And of course the body language that I have adapted. And really it is a cinematic moment that has come together with the biographies which Hollywood always likes. Whether it is Lincoln, Margaret Thatcher, or Oppenheimer. We have done it to such a level that people are talking about our performance in India about biopics. I really like it.”
What all research went behind in making “Emergency”?
Kangana: “First of all, when you have a passionate engagement with a story, you get completely immersed in it. And then there are many departments. Like there are departments of research also. They do extensive research about costumes. And luckily, with Mrs. Gandhi, unlike any other politicians of her time, like Shastri ji, Sardar Vallabhai Patel, they were very media shy.”
“But Mrs. Gandhi loved the media. Even during the Bangladesh war and everything in the war room, she is being documented in the war room. You have so much of her footage everywhere. She loved to be clicked and papped. She loved to do her PR also. Which I think is so cool. And we have got so many recreations.”
Since “Emergency” is about Indira Gandhi, does Kangana plan to invite the Gandhi family for the film's screening?
Kangana: “I would love to. But I am sure that they will not accept my invitation because they have a lot of bitterness especially for me. I have already received so many notices from the Supreme Court about my comments… I am also a parliamentarian.
“I am also supposed to comment about their comments but they have objections with that also. I hope if not for my screening, they see the film and judge it very objectively, they enjoy the film and I am sure they have kind words to say if they want to. Let's see.”
Does being blatantly honest come with a cost to pay?
“Yes, you have to pay a price for it. And at times, You can tread into the territories, where you find yourself, Completely lost because with changing roles, and changing landscapes,your driving needs to change as well.
“When you are an individual, you are a different person and when you have been very individualistic and on your own for way too long. For way too long. You have been looking after yourself. You have been looking after all the pros and cons, and whatever comes along with being honest and independent.
“So, even if you have a big family, Or even if you have a big organisation or party, To have your back, And to support you, And to guide you, Or even to protect you, You know, you keep forgetting that. You totally forget that. That I have so many people who are with me today. You know, associated with me. And I need to walk with all of them. And not just, have my own race. You know. So, I need to just condition myself. Also you have a really long journey, in the Hindi film drama.”
What’s more daunting between acting and filmmaking?
Kangana: “No, acting is not daunting at all…. I think acting for me is too passive.… I just hate being an actor. I just hate it with so much intensity. That I can't tell you because. You come to the set and you're always looking ‘what's happening? You know, What's going on? Which scene are you doing? You are just always wondering, What's going on? And besides, You wonder, what's going on with my life? What am I doing? You know, so much time is getting wasted. And, we all have such limited time. And these are the best years of my life.”
“And then there's the AD, who says ‘we are ready’ and when you're ready. Then (they say) ‘wait, wait’... Even if you're the main lead. You know, I hate it. Being a director, I love being a director. You know, You ask me, ‘what's going on? I know. I'll tell you.’ I think I'm one of those, better directors, you know, who understand how vulnerable it is to be an actor. You know, actors are my favourite people on the sets.
“They're just my favorite people because I know what's going on in their minds. You know, so I like to take care of them. I tell them, ‘come sit here’, ‘see, this is going on now’. I love to guide them. You know, I don't like being an actor,” he said.”
What about being a parliamentary, is that daunting?
“Being a parliamentarian is just too daunting. It's just way too daunting. I fall short of for that job (sic). I think that I need to be more. I should be more. There's no end to it. There's no end to how much one can give. There are so many people and there is so much to do. And, like, I always complain about that, I'm a parliamentarian from Mandi. But, I get calls from all states.
“You know, all, all kinds of problems and, At times I address, and then I'm like, is it even my job. That I'm getting from. All across the country? So, what is the extent, till you can give, and you can do? And especially, When there are natural calamities, and you just find yourself, just being, a little speck in the cosmos. You're not even a speck, like, you're non-existent, like, you don't even exist, you're a bubble to be precise.”
“And then you're faced with that sort of existential crisis, why am I in this position of helping people, where I myself am in such a bubble, I have no control over anything. Whereas being a filmmaker is a very gratifying job, you feel so good about yourself. You feel that I did this, You know, I made this film, I did so good and all of that.”
“But being a parliamentarian, you're always feeling, ‘what is to be done? Like, what can I do?’ And, Of course, You can help people with policies, that, you can help people build homes, build roads, you can get them pension, you can solve their problems, but, there are far and few, because, they already know the path to do that.”
“Most people just come to you, they're like, your organs have failed, you know, like, my child is missing, or My husband has left me, or like this mountain has fallen on my family and you're like, Oh my God, How am I supposed to even cope with all of this? There's so much pain in the world. I just feel that, as a parliamentarian, and even as a person in power… And I just keep thinking about people who are way ahead of me in the hierarchy, and I just keep thinking, how do they run the whole nation?”
“I just collapse, running my own house. Nothing is happening. Everything has crashed, the kitchen has crashed, the cook has left, you know, the AC, And the house is just not functioning, no matter how hard you try. As a working woman, You just feel that, It's so hard to make a house run. How do they do it? I don't know, I just, I never found myself getting anxious thinking about something, but, thinking about my duties, as a parliamentarian, and the vastness of this job, is definitely, I need to up my game.”
Will acting take a back seat for you?
Kangana: “No, I just, I just feel that when I was looking for actors. And when my actor said yes to me. It was such a life changing moment for me. I think it's a bigger high than a marriage proposal marriage proposal, Because, It just, It means so much to you, When an actor says yes to you, So all these years, when my directors were just. They used to go right in their face, and bring me flowers, gifts and foods and God knows what, and I'm like ‘Yeah okay, Like whatever’.”
“What was that scene I didn't understand, what it means to a filmmaker, when they find their face, when they find that person, who's willing to, be a part of their world, and just be the face of it, it just means so much, I want to, I want to be a part of people's lives, And I think, being an actor, I want to, bring that, like how when Shreyas sir or Mahima.... When I found Mahima ma'am… I was not finding anybody for Pupul.
“So, there is a joy in that also but I want to do more of filmmaking but it's not that I want to say no to all the directors, who come to me, but I also want to be more of a filmmaker now.”
Do you feel you have conquered it all, when you look at those who tried to pull you down in Bollywood?
Kangana: “No… I don't think much about them and honestly, probably that's why, I keep moving ahead, I don't give them, my energy, never, I don't think about them and they are, like yesterday, somebody was asking me, And I'm like, I'd say somewhere that ‘you'll be the villain of my biopic’ and I was so wrong that's you know, that's where we underestimate ourselves.
“No, I'm going to have better villains and a better life and a bigger purpose so these are people, like a frog in a well let them live in the well.”
If you had a superpower, what would you like to change?
“In my constituency, I would like to change these floods. That is coming every year, it's just too much devastation. I would want to pray to God, God, stop these floods, Give us proper rains and please stop it. No more floods.”
