Kangana Ranaut has been flying her flag of feminism solitarily through the last few weeks. The latest video from the comedy group All India Bakchod (AIB) puts the actress's complaints into one hilarious video to write about. The Simran actress is in her element as she pokes fun into the many practices in Hindi cinema from its objectifying item numbers and lyrics to the never-ageing stars, and the idea of romance.
The video begins with Ranaut as actress Priya, complaining to the director about the titillating lyrics in the dance number. The lyrics with 'iodex' are a hint at the famous 'Zandu balm' in 'Munni Badnaam Hui' from Dabanng (2010).
'She is a physicist,' says the actress only to have the director call her a 'diva' behind her back. Just when the actress has given up on the protest, enter the star (played by Varun Thakur). One word from him, and the director decides to dump it all. That gets the actress's goat, and it segues into a wonderful parody of the 'Chittiyaan Kalaiyaan Ve' song, hilariously titled 'Cos she has vagina ve'.
Ranaut, who has already stirred up a hornet's nest with her recent comments demanding an apology from Hrithik Roshan, also gave another interview to film critic Anupama Chopra where she spoke about people in the industry having 'frail egos'. This video will certainly damage some, including Ranaut's bete noire Karan Johar, whose scenes from Kabhie Khushi Kabhi Gham are parodied with the director playing the teary-eyed Jaya Bachchan welcoming his star. If that were not a sign, then the lyrics carry snarky sarcasm in the form of 'Inse zyaada broad minds hai baboons ke'.
Incidentally, the video is produced by AIB, who have been associated with Johar and his friends for quite some time. The lyrics poke fun at everything the industry has been accused of from objectifying women, playing ageing actors with younger heroines, the struggle of actresses to get by a word without being called a diva.
If anyone thought there would be no mention of her on-going battle with Hrithik Roshan, they could not be more wrong. Midway through the song, there is a very sneaky taunt at heroes launched by 'papas', who call her a diva because she 'spoke out'. Wonderfully written, the key portion of the song is when the media plays up Ranaut's statements as being 'ballsy', only to have the actress deny it "Cos I don't have balls ve".
As for the lyricist who came up with these crazy lyrics, the credit goes to Manaswi Mohata, Anuya Jakatdar, Ayesha Nair, and Supriya Joshi. Although the ending of the video has comedian Tanmay Bhat pointing to Ranaut as she denies "I did not write this song." For those living under a rock, that portion is a reference to Ranaut's not-so-old controversy of claiming writing credits for Hansal Mehta's Simran.
Bhat even credited the writers for praise on Twitter.
Directed by Bhat, the video is available on AIB's YouTube Channel, and might just start up another fiery conversation around Ranaut. The actress will soon be seen in Mehta's Simran on 15 September.