Actor and BJP's Lok Sabha candidate from Mandi constituency Kangana Ranaut speaks at a summit in New Delhi on March 27.
Credit: PTI Photo
Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut recently recalled an interview in which she had called the Rangeela actor Urmila Matondkar a "soft porn star" and stated that "I personally do not think I had any intentions of shaming her (Urmila), because she is very comfortable in that role".
Ranaut is set to contest the Lok Sabha elections from Mandi in Himachal Pradesh on the BJP ticket. The actor while referring to Matondkar and reportedly, the latter's bold performances told Hindustan Times that "porn stars get immense respect in India" as she used Sunny Leone's name as an example.
"I am not justifying anything. If these actresses are comfortable with words such as tandoori murgi, item girl, Sheila ki Jawani, why is it seen as something violating? It is a matter of fact, if they are comfortable with this, why do you want to shame them? I personally do not think I had any intention of shaming her (Urmila Matondkar) because she is very comfortable in that role," Ranaut said at a summit held earlier this week.
Ranaut's statements also come in the wake of a recent incident where an objectionable post about the actor was shared on the social media handle of Congress leader Supriya Shrinate. The post sparked a political row between the BJP and the Congress as it surfaced a day after Ranaut was given the BJP ticket to contest the LS polls from Mandi.
While the BJP, Ranaut, and the National Commission for Women demanded strict action against Shrinate over the social media post, the Congress leader has clarified that "many people have access to her Facebook and Instagram accounts". She said, "As soon as I came to know, I deleted that post. Everyone who knows me, also knows very well that I can never make personal and indecent comments towards any woman. I wanted to know how this happened."
The president of Indian Youth Congress Srinivas BV also took to X where he wrote, "What was posted from Supriya Ji's account was absolutely derogatory. She has not only deleted it but also clarified and Condemned it in the Strongest Terms." (sic).
Meanwhile, the Queen actor goes on to explain her choice of words about Matondkar and asked the interviewer, "Tell me, are 'soft porn' or 'porn star' objectionable terms? No! They are not objectionable terms." Ranaut further claimed, "It is just a word that is not acceptable socially. The amount of respect porn stars get in India— just ask Sunny Leone, nowhere else in the world is that the case."
In the 2020 interview, Ranaut had said, “I saw one very derogatory interview given by Urmila Matondkar. The way she was talking about me, pulling faces, making a mockery about my struggles, attacking me on the fact that I am trying to appease BJP for a ticket. One doesn’t have to be a genius to figure that for me it is not very difficult to get a ticket. Urmila is a soft porn star. She is not known for her acting for sure, what is she known for? For doing soft porn right. If she could get a ticket, why wouldn’t I get a ticket?"