Kangana Ranaut says she wasn’t trying to sabotage Gangubai Kathiawadi’s box office slamming video of girl imitating Alia Bhatt

Actor Kangana Ranaut and producer Ekta Kapoor were in New Delhi on Wednesday to promote their upcoming AltBalaji reality show Lock Upp. The actor was asked a follow-up question about her social media comment criticising a little girl’s viral video in which she had recreated Alia Bhatt’s look from Gangubai Kathiawadi. Kangana had taken to Instagram and had written, “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.”
While the actor was promoting her show in New Delhi, she said that she was not trying to “harm anybody in terms of business” with her comments, but it was an act of dissent.
She said, “Jo 6-7 saal ke bachche hai, woh kisi tarah se exploit ho rahe hai, jab main unki baat kar rahi hoon (I was talking about the exploitation of 6 or 7-year-olds). With that I don’t think it’s 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 arts also have an opposing view?”

The Thailaivii star also called the whole issue a ‘petty thought’ and said that nobody’s voice should be silenced just because it might be detrimental to a film’s box office collection.
“What will there be, if there is no opposition? The person will only have their (own) way. I am not going to jail them or anything, I am not an authority, I am only expressing my opinion that this doesn’t look right to me. Just because my opinion is not in their interest of making money, why should my voice be shut? Just because it doesn’t serve somebody’s purpose economically, why should my voice should be shut? Nobody’s voice should be shut! What I said is in the interest of the girl children who are being exploited to imitate TikTok videos and imitate a sex worker with a beedi (cigarette) in her mouth,” she added.

Kangana also mentioned that “social media is a place where people can give opposing views” and not just a place for “filters” and “fancy clothes”. “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 should not happen, Kangana concluded.