Kangana Ranaut has recently been the talk of the town all around the entertainment industry. During the launch event of her new movie, Judgemental Hai Kya’s the Wakhra song, her disagreement with a journalist has caused much uproar in the media.
The Entertainment Journalists Guild in light of the incident decided to ban Kangana Ranaut, a decision, which has been backed by the Press Club of India.
While it is true that there was a disagreement between Kangana Ranaut and a PTI journalist, Justin Rao; the two individuals were merely expressing their opinions as opposed with differed. In this, Kangana Ranaut felt that Justin was being unnecessarily unfair to her movie, a claim which was disputed by the journalist himself. However, in light of the untoward incident, Kangana was being asked to apologize by the journalists, who were threatening to otherwise boycott her.
The entertainment guild stated, “We, as a guild, have collectively decided to boycott Ms Ranaut and not give her any media coverage.”
Fully backing the guild, Press Cub of India issued a statement, “We the Press Club of India are aghast, anguished and shocked at the incident involving an actress of Bollywood using uncivilised, uncultured, filthy and abusive language against the media persons. We condemn it in the strongest possible words. This behaviour and hurling abuses towards journalists are unacceptable. We support the decision of the boycott by the journalists covering the entertainment industry in Mumbai namely Entertainment Journalists Guild.”
Kangana Ranaut thereafter made a video in which she stated that she was merely expressing her own opinions and that she does not care about the journalists. She has worked hard to reach her current position, which is not to be undermined by the journalists.
However, brazen and bold that Kangana is, the incident with the journalists and their reaction reeks of hypocrisy. Celebrities in the past have done much much worse to the journalists, so much so that criminal complaints were filed against them, and yet, the behavior was excused because of ‘stardom’.
Salman Khan has launched scathing attacks at the journalists multiple times in the past. He has been rude and uncouth towards the journalists if a question directed towards him makes him even slightly uncomfortable. Recently, a journalist also filed a criminal complaint against him on charges of assault, threat and abuse. Allegedly, Salman Khan and his aides had jumped in the journalist’s car and assaulted him after he had taken Salman Khan’s photograph.
During Hrithik Roshan’s visit to the temple of Shirdi a few years ago, he had grabbed the neck of one of the cameramen and pushed him out of the temple.
Ranbir Kapoor is also known for his frequent squabbles with the media. Once, when he was photographed, he stopped his car and quarreled with the photographer, and ended up snatching the person’s phone.
Govinda has also been in the news quite a bit for unruly beahviour towards the media. Once, during shooting of the movie Money Hai Toh Honey Hai, he slapped a new journalist while he was interviewing him.
Arjun Rampal has also had his fair share of untoward incidents. Once, when he was spotted with Sussanne by a cameraman, Rampal proceeded to hurl abuses mercilessly at the media-person.
Last year during Diwali, Sanjay Dutt had abused the journalists stationed outside his house and had used really foul language, when they were merely doing their jobs.
These incidents are just the tip of the iceberg. But the media shrugged off the incidences and kept eulogizing these ‘stars’.
However, Kangana Ranaut isn’t a ‘star’ is the proper sense for them. She is famous for airing her views without the fear of being politically correct, something the pseudo liberals and the secular journalists cannot tolerate. Time and again, she has been in the limelight for her opposing views, which is looked down upon by the elites. She has taken a stand against the prevalence of dynasties in the industry, and also the fact that women actors are paid much less than their male counterparts, facts which are constantly ignored and accepted in the industry. In a liberal Bollywood, she is unabashedly right, the fan of the man hated by many in the Bollywood. Thus, she had become an easy target of the media.
Now, the fact that she has a different opinion than the rest of the Bollywood clan is being held against her. The incident is just being used to fuel fire for the pre-conceived notions the journalists hold against Kangana. No doubt, it was a heated conversation but nothing more disastrous than the incidents with other actors. The hypocrisy of the media is clearly visible.