I used badass card and not victim card; Karan is nobody to tell me to leave: Kangana

Mumbai: If you thought that the alleged ‘torch-bearer of nepotism’ Karan Johar could get away with accusing Kangana ‘badass’ Ranaut of playing the victim card too often, then you do not know her well enough and are clearly mistaken. She knows where to hit the hammer.

While speaking to a leading daily, Kangana, who was asked to leave the industry if she was so annoyed with the way it functions by a certain Mr. Johar, the self-made ‘Queen’ actress unabashedly said that Johar is only a tiny part of this gigantic phenomenon called Bollywood and that he is nobody to ask her to leave.

“Also, the Indian film industry is not a small studio given to Karan by his father when he was in his early 20s. That is just a small molecule. The industry belongs to every Indian and is highly recommended for outsiders like me whose parents were too poor to give me a formal training. I learnt on the job and got paid for it, using the money to educate myself in New York. He is nobody to tell me to leave it. I'm definitely not going anywhere, Mr Johar,” said the three-time National Award winner.

Talking about playing the ‘victim card’ or the ‘woman card’, Kangana clarified that she was using the ‘badass card’ and goes on to explain that her other cards are reserved for different roles she plays in her life.

“Why is Karan Johar trying to shame a woman for being a woman? What is this about the 'woman card' and the 'victim card'? This kind of talk is demeaning to all women, particularly the vulnerable because they are the ones who really need to use them. The 'woman card' might not help you become a Wimbledon champ, or win you Olympic medals, or bag National awards. It might not even land you a job, but it can get a pregnant woman who feels her water is about to break a 'ladies' seat on a crowded bus. It can be used as a cry for help when you sense a threat. The same goes for the 'victim card', which women like my sister, Rangoli, who is a victim of an acid attack, can use while fighting for justice in court…I use every card possible. At the workplace, it's the badass card to fight cutthroat competition. With my family and loved ones, it's the love card. When fighting the world, it's the dignity card, and for a seat in a bus, it's the woman card. What is important to understand is that we are not fighting people, we are fighting a mentality. I am not fighting Karan Johar, I am fighting male chauvinism,” said Kangana.

“Now that Karan is the father of a little daughter (Johar became a single parent of twins, who were born through surrogacy last month), he should provide her with all these cards — the 'woman card' and the 'victim card', as also the 'self-made-independent-woman card', and the 'badass card' that I flashed on his show. We will use whatever we need to ensure no one rocks our boat,” she added.

Kangana, who has worked in ‘Ungli’ which was produced by Johar, is well aware of their creative differences and feels that by inviting her to his show, he has not shown any ‘graciousness’ whatsoever. “I'm also at a loss to understand how he gave me a platform by inviting me to be on his show. I've been on several platforms before with several global icons. To say he helped me voice my opinions is to discredit me as an artiste and a public personality. And, I think, it should be added here that I was invited to be a part of the show in its fifth season. (Johar's talk show made its debut in 2004). His team requested my team for months for my dates… I'm also a little surprised at the "graciousness" he says he displayed in choosing to not edit the jousty bits on the show. While I'd have blacklisted the channel if something like that had happened, let's also remember that a channel wants TRPs, and he is just a paid host,” signed off the actress.

During the course of this tell-it-like-it-is interview, Kangana said that her war of words is mostly against male chauvinism and not Johar who is nothing but a ‘molecule’ that constitutes the Indian film fraternity. Words like ‘victim card’ and ‘woman card’ sound extremely demeaning to her.