Kangana Ranaut’s first director, Anurag Basu, says he doesn’t understand her public persona: ‘There are two Kanganas’

Director Anurag Basu has said that he doesn’t meet Kangana Ranaut very often, but when he does, it’s like the old times. He said that he doesn’t understand the public persona that Kangana has developed.

Anurag launched Kangana’s acting career with 2006’s Gangster. The film also starred Emraan Hashmi and Shiney Ahuja, and won Kangana several best debut awards.

“Of the 20-25 girls we auditioned for the part, her face just stuck in my head - there was something unique about her,” Anurag told Mid-Day, adding, “In the beginning, she needed guidance for everything. But she is a really fast learner. I have seen her growth during the filming of Gangster itself.”

He added, “There was something very raw and organic about her, very refreshing, very new.” Asked about whether he noticed indications of the person Kangana would become, he said, “Not really. We usually don’t meet, but whenever we do, this [public] persona is not the Kangana I [know] personally. So I think there are two Kanganas. Beech wali [the other one] I don’t understand.”

Kangana in recent years has made headlines for numerous feuds that she’s fuelled with industry veterans such as Hrithik Roshan, Karan Johar, and others. She has commented on everything from nepotism in the film industry, drug abuse in Bollywood, and most recently, the farmers’ protest.

Kangana was supposed to reunite with Anurag for Imali, which she opted out of to focus on her directorial career. “Anurag and I have spoken about it. I feel extremely bad because Imali was giving me an opportunity to work with my mentor again, but I’m on the verge of announcing my own film in a few weeks from now. That has taken a lot of my time and I have conveyed it to Anurag, who understood my situation,” she told PTI in 2018.

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