Period of struggle over, says Kangana Ranaut
New Delhi, 26 Dec:It has been six years since Kangana Ranaut made her Bollywood debut and the actress, who has successfully made a mark despite being an outsider in the industry, says her struggle-free journey
New Delhi, 26 Dec:It has been six years since Kangana Ranaut made her Bollywood debut and the actress, who has successfully made a mark despite being an outsider in the industry, says her struggle-free journey has just begun.
Kangana, 25, made her dream debut with Anurag Basu's Gangster in 2006.
"My journey has been great. It is a mix of struggle and appreciation. But it is only now that I can say I am enjoying my work. Initially, there was lot of struggle but now am getting the kind of roles that I want to do. I now have a say," Kangana told PTI in an interview.
The actress, who is currently in the Capital to shoot director Vikas Bahl's Queen, says she never had dearth of roles but her struggle story had more to do with not getting desired roles in films and getting typecast.
"Everybody has different kind of struggle. For some it is lack of work but for me it was not getting the right kind of films. After Gangster I was being typecast, be it Life in a... Metro, Fashion or others.
"So, I actually had to put my foot down and say 'No I am not going to take more of this'. I almost had to stay out of work sometime to change the course of the image I was getting into without wanting it. I always felt that I had much more to give than just doing the same edgy, dramatic roles." The National-award-winning actress says there was a time when filmmakers did not even consider her for many interesting roles because of her image.
"Whenever a director had a crazy, over-the-top character in the film, they would approach me. I was not getting any other role. There were so many interesting films that were being made but they would never consider me. So, I made a conscious decision not to play such characters anymore," she says.
And it worked. Kangana went on to star in films like Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai and Tanu Weds Manu in which her 'quirky-chirpy' act was appreciated by the audience and critics alike.
During this time Kangana was part of not much noteworthy films like Tezz", Rascals and Double Dhamaal among others. When asked if she regrets doing such films, she says, "I do not regret being part of such films in my career so far. I am not a fussy actor. Sometimes I don't have really exciting offers, so I do take up such films even if there are 10 actors in the main cast. It is not necesaay that you always get good offers.
"A lot of actors say that if they do not get good offers they prefer to sit at home, I don't have any such philosophy. I keep doing something or the other. I cannot sit at home without work."
Kangana says she is not fussy about working in big banner films and would rather do meaty roles in smaller ones. "I don't have a reason to be fussy about big banner films. Because so far whatever films have worked for me are not from big banners. From my experience I have seen that one should do films that make one happy and not just run after something.
"And not necessary big banner work. My biggest film till date Game was the biggest flop and a practically smaller film Tanu Weds Manu went on to be such a huge hit. There is no rule for it," she said.
Kangana is confident about her latest film Queen, which revolves around the life of a girl from Delhi.
"In the film, I am playing a girl from Delhi's Lajpat Nagar area. She gets married to her boyfriend but problems crop up. It is about her journey and how she deals with the issues of life post her break up," Kangana said.
Besides Queen, she has three other films releasing next year- Shootout at Wadala, I Love New York and Krrish 3.
"This year I am just working and finishing work. I am really excited for next year. I have four films releasing and all roles are very different from each other. I am very spontaneous, so I do not have any specific plan about how I will prepare for the releases. I will just go with the flow," she said.
Kangana, 25, made her dream debut with Anurag Basu's Gangster in 2006.
"My journey has been great. It is a mix of struggle and appreciation. But it is only now that I can say I am enjoying my work. Initially, there was lot of struggle but now am getting the kind of roles that I want to do. I now have a say," Kangana told PTI in an interview.
The actress, who is currently in the Capital to shoot director Vikas Bahl's Queen, says she never had dearth of roles but her struggle story had more to do with not getting desired roles in films and getting typecast.
"Everybody has different kind of struggle. For some it is lack of work but for me it was not getting the right kind of films. After Gangster I was being typecast, be it Life in a... Metro, Fashion or others.
"So, I actually had to put my foot down and say 'No I am not going to take more of this'. I almost had to stay out of work sometime to change the course of the image I was getting into without wanting it. I always felt that I had much more to give than just doing the same edgy, dramatic roles." The National-award-winning actress says there was a time when filmmakers did not even consider her for many interesting roles because of her image.
"Whenever a director had a crazy, over-the-top character in the film, they would approach me. I was not getting any other role. There were so many interesting films that were being made but they would never consider me. So, I made a conscious decision not to play such characters anymore," she says.
And it worked. Kangana went on to star in films like Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai and Tanu Weds Manu in which her 'quirky-chirpy' act was appreciated by the audience and critics alike.
During this time Kangana was part of not much noteworthy films like Tezz", Rascals and Double Dhamaal among others. When asked if she regrets doing such films, she says, "I do not regret being part of such films in my career so far. I am not a fussy actor. Sometimes I don't have really exciting offers, so I do take up such films even if there are 10 actors in the main cast. It is not necesaay that you always get good offers.
"A lot of actors say that if they do not get good offers they prefer to sit at home, I don't have any such philosophy. I keep doing something or the other. I cannot sit at home without work."
Kangana says she is not fussy about working in big banner films and would rather do meaty roles in smaller ones. "I don't have a reason to be fussy about big banner films. Because so far whatever films have worked for me are not from big banners. From my experience I have seen that one should do films that make one happy and not just run after something.
"And not necessary big banner work. My biggest film till date Game was the biggest flop and a practically smaller film Tanu Weds Manu went on to be such a huge hit. There is no rule for it," she said.
Kangana is confident about her latest film Queen, which revolves around the life of a girl from Delhi.
"In the film, I am playing a girl from Delhi's Lajpat Nagar area. She gets married to her boyfriend but problems crop up. It is about her journey and how she deals with the issues of life post her break up," Kangana said.
Besides Queen, she has three other films releasing next year- Shootout at Wadala, I Love New York and Krrish 3.
"This year I am just working and finishing work. I am really excited for next year. I have four films releasing and all roles are very different from each other. I am very spontaneous, so I do not have any specific plan about how I will prepare for the releases. I will just go with the flow," she said.