The journey of Kangana Ranaut from a the moll of a ‘Gangster’ to India’s ‘Manikarnika’ wasn’t easy. Her dedication helped her overcome the obstacles, and made Kangana what she always wanted to be – a female superstar of Indian cinema. Being a small town girl, Kangana had her share of struggles but she her dedication and perseverance, in an industry where nepotism can help one land in many movies, really makes her the true Queen of Bollywood.
Take a peep into Kangana Ranaut’s life and discover many things you didn’t know about her:
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1. The real name of Kangana is, ‘Kangana Amardeep Ranaut’. And her nickname is Arshad.
2. She was born on 23 March 1987 in Bhambla, Mandi District, Himachal Pradesh.
3. Kangana’s mother Asha is a teacher of Sanskrit and her father is a businessman.
4. Kangna has a younger sister, Rangoli, who was attacked with acid in 2005.
Rangoli lives with Kangana in Mumbai and has now fully recovered.
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5. She had a fallout with her family and did not speak to them for several years.
Kangana was forced to leave the family home in Himachal Pradesh as her father wasn’t happy with her decision of becoming an actress. She did not even receive any financial assistance from her family members throughout the years of her struggle.
6. She was planning to become a doctor but did not appear for AIPMT after failing in Chemistry unit test in Class 12.
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7. Kangana arrived in Delhi at age 16 and started modelling for France-based Elite Modelling Agency.
8 She left modelling to join Asmita Theatre group.
Kangana performed in a number of plays directed by Arvind Gaur.
9. Kangana was picked by Pahlaj Nihalani for ‘I Love You Boss’ in 2004 but she dropped out of it to debut with ‘Gangster’.
10. ‘Gangster’ producer Mahesh Bhatt thought Kangana is too young to play the role.
Chitrangada Singh was signed for the lead role, but she became unavailable and Kangana was eventually signed.
11. In 2007, she filed a police complaint against Aditya Pancholi.
Kangana complained that Pancholi assaulted her. Pancholi said that the two had an affair.
12. She played serious or neurotic characters in seven consecutive Hindi films till 2010.
Her first comic role was in ‘No Problem’ and in 2011, she did ‘Tanu Weds Manu’.
13. Kangana won her first of three National Awards for 2008 film ‘Fashion’.
She was awarded for Best Supporting Actress while Priyanka Chopra took the Best Actress National Award for the same film.
14. She was in a relationship with Shekhar Suman’s son Adhyayan Suman from 2008-2009.
The two also starred in one movie: ‘Raaz: The Mystery Continues’.
15. Kangana is only the third actress in history of Indian cinema to win two back-to-back Best Actress National Awards.
She won her first Best Actress National Award for ‘Queen’ in 2015 and the second for ‘Tanu Weds Manu 2’ in 2016. The other two actresses who won back-to-back National Award Best Actress are Shabana Azmi and Archana.
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16. Between 2011’s ‘Tanu Weds Manu’ and 2013’s Krrish 3′, Kangana acted in seven flop or average movies.
17. She had a long-distance affair with an English doctor from 2010 to 2012.
They separated amicably, but this was the relationship that Kangana described as the most normal she had.
18. Kangana is a vegetarian as was even listed as ‘India’s hottest vegetarian’ by PETA in 2013.
19. To prepare for ‘Tanu Weds Manu’, Kangana spoke to DU students in disguise and trained in triple jump.
20. Very few know that she was the co-writer of the dialogues in ‘Queen’, which released in 2014.
21. She went to New York for her script writing course but had to leave it halfway as she had to return India for the promotion of ‘Queen’.
22. Her war against nepotism in Bollywood began with an interview in 2013.
Kangana Ranaut has been particularly been outspoken against Karan Johar over the nepotism row
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23. Kangana turned down a Rs2 crore offer to promote a fairness cream.
Her refusal is also backed by a powerful quote,
“Ever since I was a kid, I have never understood the concept of fairness. Especially, in such a case, as a celebrity, what kind of an example would I be setting for younger people? I have no regrets about turning this offer down. As a public figure, I have responsibilities.”
24. Kangana, in 2016, accused Hrithik Roshan of trying to cover up their affair after the latter filed a case against her.
Hrithik had accused Kangana of cyber stalking.
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25. ‘Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi’ is Kangana’s first film as director.
She had earlier tried her hand at directing a nine-minute short film.
26. Till now Kangana has worked in 32 movies, out of which one is a Telgu (Ek Niranjan) and another is Tamil (Dhaam Dhoom).
27. Till now she has watched only 10 movies.
She prefers reading books for hours rather watching movies.
28. Before turning 30 her dream was to live in different countries and in different places.
29. It wouldn’t be easy to swallow that she describes her younger self as a nerd who was more concerned about scoring good marks.
30. Kangana is a very good basket ball player.
31. She has the highest number of National Awards after Shabana Azmi.
While Kangana has three National Awards, Azmi has five – all Best Actress.
32. Kangana has also won four Filmfare Awards, including the Best Debut Award for ‘Gangster’
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