MUMBAI: Did you know that Vidya Balan, who won a National Award for her portrayal of an adult star in The Dirty Picture, was not the first choice for the film? 

In a new interview, Kangana Ranaut said that the role was offered to her but she turned it down. She added that she could not have done the role better than Vidya, who was ‘terrific’ in the film.

Speaking to a leading daily about whether she regrets turning any film down, Kangana said, “Not really. But I think The Dirty Picture, just like I always said, turned out to be so wonderful! But I don’t think I would have done it better than Vidya Balan because she was terrific in that. But yes, sometimes I feel that I didn’t see the potential in that film.

Kangana went on to say that she became a mainstream star by only doing ‘parallel or off-beat films’. “I have never done one of those conventional films of Rajkumar Hirani or Sanjay Leela Bhansali or even Dharma Productions, YRF or any of the Khans' films. I have done none of that but still, I’m the top leading actress who has made a name for herself. It is a case study on its own. Though I failed to see the opportunity in The Dirty Picture, I don’t regret it.”, she said.

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Recently, Kangana completed a decade-and-a-half in Bollywood. As her debut film Gangster completed 15 years of its release, she looked back at her journey and compared it to Shah Rukh Khan.

In a series of tweets, Kangana wrote, “15 years ago Gangster released today, Shahrukh Khan ji and mine are the biggest success stories ever but SRK was from Delhi, convent educated and his parents were involved in films, I did not know a single word of English, no education, came from a remote village of HP and every step was a battle starting with my own father and grandfather, who made my life miserable, and yet 15 years later after so much success still every day is a fight for survival but totally worth it, thank you everyone#15yearsofgangster.”.

Kangana is currently awaiting the release of her multilingual film Thalaivi, wherein she will play former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa. Although it was scheduled for a theatrical release last month, it has been indefinitely stalled in light of the surge in Covid-19 cases across the country.

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Credit: Hindustan Times