After the Entertainment Journalists’ Guild of India announced that they would continue their ban on Kanagana Ranaut till the time that the actor apologises for her spat with a reporter, sister Rangoli Chandel tweeted a video where Kangana can be seen talking about the India media.
Looking calm in a white salwar-suit, Kangana says in the video, “Today, I want to talk about the Indian media. Everywhere there are good people as well as bad people. The media often boosted and inspired me, I have found extremely good friends and guide in the media. They have a major role to play in my success and I am grateful to them.”
Changing her tone and attitude as she sat straight up, Kangana continued, “But a section of media in our section functions like termites who are attacking our country’s grace, honour, unity and integrity and often spreads rumours. They present their treacherous views in front of everyone. Our constitution does not have any clause for them and I feel these people, so called ‘liberals’ are a threat. This journalist I met in Delhi, he has been making fun of my serious initiatives – I campaigned for a ban on plastic recently and he ridiculed it, he also made fun of my campaign against animal cruelty.”
In a separate video, she further said, “These people do not have any proper argument or comment to make, like journalists are supposed to. All they do is talk rubbish and attack personally. They attend press conferences to get free food. These people do not have any work to quantify their existence as a journalist. If I call myself an artiste, I should have some work. Please show me one article that you wrote! How can you call yourself a journalist? I refused to answer his question as I have zero tolerance against anti-nationalists. These three or four people formed a guild against me, I think it was formed yesterday. It does not even have any recognition.”
She further charged, “These people are threatening to ban me, destroy my career. (laughs) Treacherous people, one doesn’t need lakhs of rupees to buy you out, you people go crazy over Rs 50-60. You guys will destroy me? If things were according to pseudo journalists like you and the movie mafia, I wouldn’t be the country’s top actress and the highest paid actress. I ask you to please ban me, I do not want that there is no food at your home because of me.”
Balaji Telefilms and producer Ekta Kapoor tweeted their apology for Kangana’s spat with a journalist during a promotional event for their upcoming film Judgemental Hai Kya and the Entertainment Journalists’ Guild of India responded by saying that they accept the apology but would continue to boycott Kangana until the actor apologises. Ekta Kapoor’s banner, which is producing Ranaut’s next film JudgeMentall Hai Kya, did not name the actor but said it would like to apologise for the “untoward incident” at their event on Sunday.
“A lot is being reported about the debate that ensued between our film ‘JudgeMentall Hai Kya’ actor and journalist Justin Rao, at the film’s song launch event on July 7, 2019. Unfortunately, the event took an unpleasant turn. “While the people involved in it fairly held their own perspectives but because it happened at the event of our film, we, as the producers, would like to apologize and express regret for this untoward incident. We would like to maintain that our intention was not to disrespect or hurt anyone’s sentiments,” the statement by the production house read.
The production house also expressed the hope the media will not “let this one incident hamper the team effort that has gone behind making the film”. On Tuesday, in its letter to Kapoor, the Guild said the boycott is a collective decision but would extend only to the actor and not affect the film or the rest of its cast.
“The Entertainment Journalists Guild appreciates Ekta Kapoor’s support and standing for what is right through her official statement. However, we will continue the ban on Kangana Ranaut across all media platforms,” the guild said in what is a rare instance of the media uniting to boycott a Bollywood star.
The members said in the letter that Ranaut had lashed out at the journalist even before he could complete the question he was asking at the press conference on the pretext that he was running a “smear campaign” against her. Ranaut also accused Rao of writing negatively about her film Manikarnika. The journalist denied the allegations and the actor’s claim that he personally messaged her and spent three hours in her vanity van. He said he met the actor briefly for an interview and there were no personal messages.
In the 1970s, Amitabh Bachchan and the media shared an icy relationship which thawed only about a decade later. Bachchan was rarely written about through much of the years that saw his career soar to starry heights. In recent years, photographers briefly shunned Salman Khan following a scuffle with his bodyguard. Shraddha Kapoor was also banned by photographers when she refused to pose for them. Ranaut’s sister Rangoli Chandel said on Twitter that the actor will not apologise. “I promise one thing that there will be no apology from Kangana,” she tweeted and described the journalists as anti-national.”
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