Manikarnika actress Kangana Ranaut, in a recent interview with Pinkvilla, said that Alia Bhatt's "existence is all about being Karan Johar's puppet." The 31-year-old actress told Pinkvilla: "I suggested that she grows some spine and supports an important film about woman empowerment and nationalism... If she doesn't have a voice of her own and her existence is all about being Karan Johar's puppet then I don't consider her successful." During the interview, Kangana also said that she hopes Alia Bhatt "understands the true meaning of success" and added, "I told her if she is only focusing on earning bucks and not raising a voice, then her success has no value." " I hope she understands the true meaning of success and her responsibilities, nepotism gang life is simply restricted to giving and taking favours, hope she rises above that."
Kangana's statement comes a day after she accused Bollywood stars of "ganging up" against her "like a classroom of kids" because she spoke about nepotism, after which Alia said that she "hasn't done anything to intentionally to upset Kangana" and that she "will apologise to Kangana on a personal level." "I hope she doesn't dislike me and I don't think she dislikes me. I don't think I have done anything intentionally to upset her. If I have, I will apologise to her on a personal level, PTI quoted Alia as saying.
On Thursday, Kangana Ranaut, interacted with the media during a promotional event, wherein she said that members of the film industry had "ganged up together like a classroom of kids" because she spoke up about nepotism. During the media interaction, Kangana lashed out at Bollywood stars for not extending their support to her film Manikarnika: The Queen Of Jhansi. "Is the Queen of Jhansi my relative? She is yours as much as she is mine... then why are these people hesitating? Because I spoke up about nepotism? That scared them? They have all ganged up together like a classroom of kids because I spoke up about nepotism," Kangana said during the event.
The debate on nepotism in Bollywood started after Kangana Ranaut labelled Karan Johar as the "flagbearer of nepotism," when she made an appearance on his chat show in 2016.
Manikarnika: The Queen Of Jhansi is based on the life of Rani Lakshmi Bai, in which Kangana plays the titular role. The film also features Ankita Lokhande, Atul Kulkarni and Jisshu Sengupta in pivotal roles. The film has earned Rs 84.55 crore within two weeks of its release.
