Kangana Ranaut denies criticising video of girl imitating Alia Bhatt was to harm Gangubai Kathiawadi’s box office

Kangana Ranaut defended herself against those questioning her motive behind criticising a video of a little girl recreating a scene from Gangubai Kathiawadi. She said that it was ‘petty’ to think that she did it with the intention of harming the film’s box office prospects.

Kangana Ranaut hit back at an allegation that she criticised a video of a little girl recreating a scene of Alia Bhatt’s from Gangubai Kathiawadi to harm the financial prospects of the film. She called it a ‘petty thought’ and asked if her voice must be silenced just because it might be detrimental to a film’s box office collection.

Kangana Ranaut defended her post criticising the video of a little girl recreating a scene from Gangubai Kathiawadi.

Earlier this week, Kangana objected to a video of a little girl imitating Alia in Gangubai Kathiawadi and wrote on Instagram Stories, “Should this child imitate a sex worker with a beedi in her mouth and crude and obscene dialogues? Look at her body language, is it ok to sexualize her at this age? There are hundreds of other children who are being used similarly.”

At the trailer launch of Lock Upp in Delhi, Kangana said, “Jo 6-7 saal ke bachche hai, woh kisi tarah se exploit ho rahe hai, jab main unki baat kar rahi hoon (When I am talking about 6 or 7-year-olds being exploited), I don’t think it is to harm anybody in terms of business or the money that they are going to make. Shouldn’t there be a conscience keeper of society? Shouldn’t artists also have an opposing view?”

Social media is not only a place for ‘filters’ and ‘fancy clothes’, Kangana said. “It should be a place where people can give opposing views. I am not saying that I am right or they are wrong. But I am saying that I should have the freedom to say… In the creative field, there is absolute intolerance for any opposing views. That shouldn’t happen.”

“Tomorrow, when I am going to make my first solo directorial - Manikarnika was in collaboration, I would want people to say what they feel. I will be very much open to this. I don’t have to address every opposing view or shut everybody’s view. But to say, ‘This person is saying this because I should not be able to sell tickets or this person must be wanting to cause harm to the financial earnings of my film’, what kind of petty thought is that? It’s a petty thought. If you have the freedom to make the film that you want to make, don’t I have the freedom to perceive it the way I see it? Do you want to doctor my perception also? Don’t be so controlling,” she added.

Directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Gangubai Kathiawadi features Alia in the titular role of a woman who was trafficked into a brothel and eventually made connections with the underworld to become a formidable force. It is set to hit the theatres on February 25.