Kangana Ranaut has made a name and place for herself in the Hindi film industry through her own merit. She is one of the few actors who did not have a godfather or a backing from any camp. She impressed one-and-all with her debut film Gangster that released in 2006. Highly acclaimed and a recipient of National Awards, Kangana is among the top actresses in Bollywood but her journey has not been an easy one.

In an interview with a tabloid, the actress spoke about the initial days of her film career. She revealed about the time she was asked to do a photoshoot for a Pahlaj Nihalani film wearing nothing but a satin robe. Recalling the incident, she said, “Pahlaj Nihalani had offered me a film called I Love You Boss. They had a photo-shoot where they gave me a robe to wear, and no undergarments. So I just had a satin robe for a show-girl pose, from which I had to stick my leg out, coming out of darkness. They should at least have given some tapes. I was supposed to play a young girl lusting after her middle-aged boss. So it was a soft-porn sort of character. And I had this epiphany that I can't do this. I felt like this is exactly what my parents were talking about.”

File photo of Kangana Ranaut

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She was asked whether she listened to the voice in her head and ran away or actually went through the photoshoot. To this Kangana replied with, “I actually went through the photo-shoot, but then I disappeared. I changed my number. And around that time I was giving auditions, and had tested for Anurag Basu's Gangster (2006), and Puri Jagannadh's Pokiri (2006). Luckily I got both films, and had to take the call - you know how something doesn't happen for the longest, and you get two-three things together, I was in that phase! I chose Gangster, but Pokiri went on to become a big hit as well, and then I worked with Puri sir later.”

Kangana is basking in the glory of her last release Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi that she also co-directed. The film went on to cross Rs 100 crores at the box office. She also has several lucrative projects in her kitty such as Mental Hai Kya, Panga and the biopic on former CM J Jayalalithaa.