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Rani of Jhansi v. Army of Shiva: Bollywood Appears to Have Become Politicized with a Vengeance

Rani of Jhansi v. Army of Shiva: Bollywood Appears to Have Become Politicized with a Vengeance

  • It is disturbing to see women celebrities using their name and fame to trade insults and take potshots at each other instead of working towards women’s empowerment.

“I am a warrior. I can allow my head to be severed but won’t bow it!” I would have thought it was part of the dialogue of the Bollywood blockbuster, “Manikarnika, the Queen of Jhansi,” but no, it is a recent tweet from Kangana Ranaut. The last time I heard of an actor who identified so much with his character was Johnny Weissmuller, the Hollywood actor who played Tarzan in several films back in the 1930s. The role ended up consuming his psyche. It would be wise for actors today to recall this.

India is no stranger to political drama, but the strangest of these is the peculiar scenario that has arisen in Mumbai, which I still think of as the once cosmopolitan Bombay of my youth, where Bollywood appears to have moved into politics with a vengeance. We have the bizarre situation of a standoff between two actresses, Kangana Ranaut and Urmila Matondkar, over which of them is a true nationalist. 

Now numerous Bollywood celebrities have come out in support of Urmila Matondkar in response to the jab made by Kangana Ranaut characterizing her as “a soft porn star who is not known for her acting” in a recent interview. Ranaut had also hit out at veteran actress Jaya Bachchan, claiming that she was just a minor actress whereas she, Kangana, “had taught feminism to the film industry with her patriotic and women-centric movies.”

Ranaut had initially hit the headlines after criticizing the Mumbai Police for their handling of a case involving the late actor, Sushant Singh Rajput, and claiming that she no longer felt safe in Mumbai, which she compared to Pakistan. That nation being the bete noir of the Indian nation state, her comments were seen as a huge insult to the state and the state ruling party, the Shiv Sena, took umbrage at it. Ranaut then became embroiled in a fracas wherein she claimed that her office had been demolished as an act of revenge by the ruling party and vowed to punish Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray for his arrogance. 

Ranaut herself can be seen as supremely arrogant, taking on her Rani of Jhansi avatar to charge at the mighty Shiv Sena. But the Sena itself could have ignored the rants of the actress and taken the high road instead.

The situation here becomes even more murky. On the one hand, Ranaut herself can be seen as supremely arrogant, taking on her Rani of Jhansi avatar to charge at the mighty Shiv Sena. But the Sena itself could have ignored the rants of the actress and taken the high road instead of taking a path that could be portrayed as revenge politics. After all, although her office had indeed been targeted for demolition as unauthorized construction by the Bombay Municipal Corporation, a stay order had been granted, and it would have been prudent for the BMC to await the verdict instead of proceeding to bulldoze the building. 

For now, Ranaut could portray herself as the David to the Shiv Sena’s Goliath. Supporters of the Sena have claimed that other Bollywood actors like Shah Rukh Khan have also had their unauthorized construction demolished in the past without any brouhaha. But it must be noted that these other actors belong to minority religions, unlike Ranaut who brandishes her Hindu credentials like a trishul. And this indeed has been noticed and approved by the ruling party at the center, the BJP, which has in fact gone on to grant her personal security protection. 

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One watches the videos in the social media with bemusement: Kangana Ranaut marches, flanked by a bevy of armed bodyguards, all paid for, of course, by the taxpayers across the nation. This is the same nation where the government did not appear to find the funds to assist the migrant laborers who were collapsing with exhaustion as they made their mass trek home to their villages when the government first announced its draconian COVID-19 virus lockdown, giving them just four hours’ notice. And this is where the other Bollywood actress Urmila Matondkar stepped in to inquire why taxpayer money was being used to provide security for Kangana Ranaut when this had not been done for many others who were targeted by various groups. Matondkar, incidentally, represents the Congress Party, whereas Ranaut, one presumes, will soon be able to announce her candidature for other parties.  

It is disturbing to see women celebrities using their name and fame to trade insults and take potshots at each other instead of working towards women’s empowerment. This is especially the case with Kangana Ranaut, who had touted her feminism in numerous interviews. But true feminism is both inclusive and intersectional, and seeks to unite, not divide women, and name calling is definitely not the way to do it. The Queen needs to understand that before her kingdom falls apart.


Dr. Shoba Sharad Rajgopal is Professor of International Feminist Studies, at Westfield State University in Massachusetts, where she works as Chair of the Dept of Ethnic & Gender Studies, and teaches courses on Gender, Race, and Sexuality. Her doctorate is in Media Studies from the University of Colorado, Boulder. Prior to her arrival in the United States, she worked for seven years as a broadcast journalist for the Indian TV networks based in Bombay (Mumbai), India, and has also done in-depth news reports for CNN International. Her journalistic work focused on the struggles of women and indigenous people in the postcolonial nation-state. Her work has been published widely, in academic journals as well as newspapers in the U.S and India.

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View Comments (4)
  • Thanks, Shoba, for this insightful article. It certainly seems like the line between acting and politics has blurred, both in India and the US. While Kangana Ranaut has reincarnated herself as the Rani of Jhansi, Trump is mistaken the presidency for The Apprentice. And God knows what Modi thinks he’s doing, building sky-high temples to Ram when migrants can’t even pay their bus fare to their villages during a pandemic. Anyway, great article/blog! Keep ’em coming!!

  • Your article is a small window into a major national problem uncovered from the death of a shining actor. The death was quickly declared as a “suicide” by the police and the State politicians. However, with public demanding CBI investigation and supreme court intervention in this, within weeks of this, the gravity of this whole situation became clearer and clearer. It uncovered a major coverup by the police and the politicians with some Bollywood people playing a role (no pun intended!). It was Kangana Ranaut who spoke to a major TV station anchor in India about this and drug cartel in Bollywood. This is the reason why she was singled out by the party in power. The spokesperson for the ruling party used some abusive and threatening language. Her office in Mumbai was destroyed using bulldozer while she was flying to reach Mumbai.
    Do we not have freedom of speech in India? When she spoke about the drug mafia in Bollywood, it is to expose these evils in the society. Is that bad thing to do? Why was Bollywood so quiet on this and on the destruction of her office? Is this not a sign of a major intolerance problem in Maharashtra politics? We selectively decide which one we call as intolerant and which is not. Urmila Matondakar decided to express her opinion and she is entitled to one. But this article decided to talk about the person who wants to expose the major drug mafia affecting like a cancer in Bollywood. Should she not have talked about this on National TV? Why do we bring politics or feminism in this? Now several weeks later, the involvement of ED, CBI, NCB and new entrant NIA indicate the severity of this problem.
    The crosstalk between Kangana Ranaut and Urmila Matondakar is a side issue about which frankly I care less. What deeply concerns most people is the severity of a huge problem affecting the Bollywood. The Bollywood icons hold a great power as the younger generation (and older people also) tend to follow them.
    Urmila Matondakar points out the use of tax payer’s money for Kangana’s security. This point is well taken. However, let me also point out that it is tax payers who buy tickets to see the Bollywood movies. How is that different? These so-called “stars” get money from every moviegoer that supports them.
    They somehow conveniently forget that!
    It is these big stars who go to the private parties arranged by Pakistani agents. This is pathetic! (Hint — why do suppose NIA is also seriously involved in this problem?) As the time turns, we will see more and more Bollywood people exposed and they should be, independent of their political or any other status or gender. As global society we need to worry about the impact of these problems for this generation and future generations.

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