Kangana Ranaut
Kangana Ranaut is soaring high on success. The actress, who a few weeks back was hailed as the Queen of the industry after playing the titular role in a film of the same, is back in an even more enticingly thunderous avatar. Koimoi caught up with the fantastic actress on the eve of her film Revolver Rani‘s release and had a heart-to-heart talk about Queen‘s success, Revolver Rani‘s expected box office score and her new friends, Aamir Khan & Amitabh Bachchan.
A jaded and overused statement, but how is the Queen success working out for you? It seems Bollywood can’t stop talking about you.
(Laughs) People are indeed reaching out to me post the success. But I am not a people person as such. I am sort of an introvert. So I mostly stick to myself. Though the way I am being perceived is vastly different.
Is Queen the kind of success you were looking from Bollywood?
I have always felt I have got roles I deserved, but with Queen and Revolver Rani coming my way, I feel I have got more than I deserved. Everyone has their own definition of success, but the appreciation and love I get is very special.
How do you think will the success of Queen help Revolver Rani work well at the Box Office?
I don’t have any technical knowledge on such things. Even Queen‘s massive response from the audiences was shocking for all of us. We didn’t expect it to fare so well and get so widely liked. We did not expect that people would be whistling in the film because it was hardly a film with clap-traps. All we knew was we had made a good film. People’s overwhelming response helped but even if it hadn’t happened it was still a good film. As far as Revolver Rani is concerned, the response should be good. Revolver Rani is a visibly dark character and a dark film. People might take a while to fathom what happened to the domesticated and docile girl from Queen.
Since Gangster till now, you have changed much but luck has come your side finally. What do you have to say about that?
It has been 8 years since Gangster and my finesse, skill as an actor has all evolved and matured over time. It is on an entirely another level versus an amateur good actor. A performance like Queen is quite refined which doesn’t come overnight but requires over 8 years of toiling to attain it. I am obviously not the same person but grown vastly as an actor and therefore the audiences also connect with me on that level. Had Revolver Rani come my way 4 years back I wouldn’t have got the grip of it. I wouldn’t have got the head or tail of how to go about it.
After you wrote the dialogues for Queen, we were almost expecting a repeat of it in Revolver Rani.
Queen‘s Rani was a kind of character I wanted to contribute to. Revolver Rani is a very different character. The Chambal dialect was difficult for me to fathom and then to think in that language was nearly impossible. I had to learn the script well. Also Alka’s character is such that to understand her was difficult. She is 40 and sterile. Her repertoire of work is ghastly, she is highly immoral by society’s standards. If I were the director, I will approach someone who looks closer to the character. I drastically changed myself for the role.
You are befriending seniors like Amitabh Bachchan and Aamir Khan suggests reports.
I am not important enough for that. It is the courtesy of these gracious men to congratulate me on my good work. I am a younger artist and a message from seasoned people can really inspire. It’s just their grace to reach out to me. Contrary to popular opinion, it’s not because of the success of Queen. The film became successful after 4 weeks of release. Queen is a very evolved work and for an artist it is an entirely different experience to witness a film of that order. An other artiste’s work can actually penetrate through my bones if I like it. How an artiste enjoys other artiste’s work is different, so they reached out to me. Amitabh Bachchan or Aamir Khan are not my friends at all (laughs). Don’t put me in the tough spot!
Now, enjoy reading koimoi.com on your iPhone/iPad and Android Smartphone