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Kangana Ranaut’s 5 biggest Bollywood controversies – from comparing Mumbai with Pakistan to demanding Ranbir Kapoor and Ranveer Singh take drugs tests

Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut is no stranger to controversy and is a fearless crusader – but has she gone too far this time? Photo: @kanganaranaut/instagram
Kangana Ranaut’s middle name could very well be controversy. Time and again, the outspoken actress has made the headlines for her straight talk, and has taken on various bigwigs in Bollywood, from powerful filmmakers like Karan Johar to A-list stars like Hrithik Roshan.

This time, the award-winning diva is in trouble with the Maharashtra state government and its chief minister. Her peculiar brand of SoMe activism continues to polarise public opinion (she has 7.4 million followers on Instagram and 1.7 million on Twitter), but has she finally bitten off more than she can chew? Thousands of fans seem to think so, with the hashtag #kanganapaagalhai – (Kangana is bonkers) – recently trending on Twitter.

 

Read on to find out about her latest spat, and four other times the actress, 33, made shocking allegations and statements that shook Bollywood to the core.

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When she compared the city of Mumbai with Pakistan-occupied Kashmir

The current snafu hinges on Ranaut’s recent social media posts, where she compared Mumbai, the capital of Maharashtra, to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), and stated she didn’t feel safe there any more.

This led to a political maelstrom involving chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, who is also the leader of the Hindu nationalist Shiv Sena party. In what the government insists is an unrelated incident (Ranaut claims it is payback), a municipal crew tore down an office on the site of her Mumbai residence on the grounds of illegal construction.

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The firebrand actress has retaliated by vowing to “expose” Thackeray and top film director Karan Johar, whom she has accused of collusion.

The case has escalated quickly: police provided 24-hour security to Ranaut, and the Mumbai High Court ordered a stay on the demolition. Ranaut says she will work among the ruins “as a symbol of a woman’s will that dared to rise in this world”.

When she demanded top stars take a drugs test to prove they are clean

Ranaut alleges that nearly all of Bollywood is involved in drug use, which she brought to everyone’s attention in a recent tweet: “I specifically mentioned most high profile parties and inner circle of hugely successful stars, I have no doubt that people like you have never been invited to those parties cos these drugs are expensive, 99 per cent superstars have been exposed to hard drugs and I guarantee this.”

Twitter exploded, Bollywood was instantly divided, and Ranaut’s social media account became a battle ground, with angry critics demanding she provide proof.

 
Ranaut also put out a call to actors like Ranbir Kapoor, Deepika Padukone’s husband Ranveer Singh, Vicky Kaushik and filmmaker Ayan Mukerji, asking them to volunteer for a “dope test”.

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When she suggested that Sushant Singh Rajput was killed because he “knew some dirty secrets”

Ranaut’s allegations about Bollywood’s dependence on drugs are linked to the case of Sushant Singh Rajput, the actor who died by suicide on June 14.

It is one of the biggest scandals currently being played out on Indian television, and latest developments include the arrest of his girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty – she is currently in jail on the charge of supplying cannabis to Rajput – and the revelation of links between her family and a drug cartel.

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This week, Ranaut went after actresses Sonam Kapoor and Dia Mirza, calling them “mafia bimbos”. Both stars have voiced their support for Ranaut and the incarcerated Chakraborty, behind whom Bollywood is rallying.

Ranaut has been one of the loudest voices “campaigning for the truth” behind Rajput’s tragic death, and has publicly offered to help in the official investigation.

When she went public about her affair with superstar Hrithik Roshan

News broke in 2013 about Ranaut’s affair with married actor Hrithik Roshan. After the alleged Amitabh Bachchan-Rekha affair that dogged the 70s and 80s, it was perhaps the biggest scandal to rock the Hindi film industry.
 

Both Ranaut and Roshan made appearances on national television to make announcements – she admitted to the affair, he categorically denied it. The actress also went on the television show Aap Ki Adalat (People’s Court) to drive her story home.

Roshan and his wife, Sussanne Khan, who have two children, divorced in 2014.

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When she appeared on Karan Johar’s chat show and accused him of nepotism

Ranaut’s long-running feud with filmmaker Karan Johar began in 2010, when she first appeared on his gossipy television chat show Koffee with Karan, where the snarky director grilled her about her love life and inquired if she had cosmetic surgery done.

In 2017, the actress got her own back. Ranaut, a Bollywood outsider who is proud to have made it in on her own merit, told an incredulous Johar she wanted him to “write a chapter on nepotism in her biopic”.

She went on to say this, while the usually verbose auteur sat gobsmacked on his plush set: “In my biopic, if ever it’s made, you’ll play that stereotypical Bollywood biggie, who is like, you know … very snooty and completely intolerant towards outsiders, a flag bearer of nepotism, the movie mafia.”

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India

From sparring with top politician Uddhav Thackeray to supporting imprisoned actress Rhea Chakraborty and rowing with filmmaker Karan Johar and superstar Hrithik Roshan, Kangana Ranaut seems to always make the headlines – here’s a look at her biggest controversies