Video: Kangana Ranaut reacts after media boycott
The Bollywood actress put out a video statement calling some journalists ‘anti-nationals’
In a caustic video, Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut on Thursday lashed out and questioned the credibility of several journalists who have boycotted her following her verbal spat with a reporter from Mumbai earlier this week. She claims those who have boycotted her have done her a favour.
“I have zero tolerance to such anti-nationals... You are the type to sell out your own country... So go ahead and ban me all you want. I don’t want to be the reason why the fire in your kitchen is lit,” said Ranaut in a video statement, speaking in Hindi.
She labelled those journalists who have vowed to black her out as “cheap, rotten sell-out souls who are up for sale for Rs60 (Dh3.12) and have no body of work to prove their credibility or standing in society.”
A few days ago, Ranaut sparked a massive media outrage when she blasted Justin Rao, an Indian journalist from PTI news agency, for criticising her period epic ‘Manikarnika: The Queen Of Jhansi’; Rao was on call to cover the song launch from her upcoming film, ‘JudgeMentall Hai Kya’.
In a video that went viral, Ranaut was seen cutting off Rao as he attempted to put forward his question. The issue snowballed into a vitriolic fight. The incident spurred the formation of an Entertainment Journalists Guild in Mumbai and Ekta Kapoor, the producer of ‘Judgementall Hai Kya,’ apologising for the ‘untoward incident’.
Ranaut finally put out a statement of her own, refusing to back down.
“He [Rao and his ilk] are professional trolls and come to press conferences to eat free food… There should be some criteria to judge your merit as a journalist. Show me some blog or worthy piece of writing... They have such vicious, terrible thoughts,” said Ranaut, who claims her body of work stands testimony to her credibility.
Appearing in pristine white traditional attire, the Indian National Award-winning actress continued in her video, saying the journalists with whom she locked horns with are threatening to destroy the social, cultural and unity fabric of India.
“I remember meeting this journalist at events where I was trying to do social good like promote a plastic ban and to stop cruelty against animals... I spotted him trivialising me and mocking me when I was taking up worthy causes … You are so cheap,” claimed Ranaut. She also pointed out that Rao — who had allegedly criticised her warrior epic ‘Manikarnika’ — had raked in Rs1.4 billion) at the box office.
While she began the video on a placatory note thanking a section of the media and audience for their unstinting support towards her career and her life, she turned nasty in the following minutes calling them names like ‘pseudo journalists’.
It’s not the first time that Ranaut has sparked controversies in her life. Her alleged affair with Bollywood actor Hrithik Roshan continue to dominate headlines. She was labelled as a bully and a stalker by Roshan in a recent media interaction.