March 23 marks the 39th birthday of Kangana Ranaut – Bollywood’s resident baddie, a National Award-winning actor known for her fiercely individualistic roles, and now a Lok Sabha MP who continues to command attention both on and off screen. Over the years, Kangana has built a reputation for speaking her mind, often challenging industry norms and societal expectations. One such moment came during a January 2016 interview with NDTV, where she weighed in on how women are perceived and categorised, especially in the film industry – a conversation that still resonates today.
What she said
In the interview, Kangana addressed the tendency to stereotype women into neat, limiting categories – something she has often resisted in both her career and public persona.
She said: “We need to encourage our women for being who they are as opposed to trying to box them and fit them – this one is attractive, this one is ‘behenji’ types, this one is intellectual and this one is a baddie – a badass who has boyfriends and wears clothes like this.”
Her words cut through the surface-level labels that are so often attached to women, especially in Bollywood, where image can become identity. By calling out these reductive classifications, Kangana highlighted how women are frequently forced into predefined roles that fail to capture their full complexity.
What the quote means
At its core, this quote is a critique of the boxes society builds – and then expects women to live within. Whether it’s the “good girl”, the “modern woman”, the “intellectual”, or the “bold and outspoken” archetype, these labels often come with rigid expectations. Bollywood, much like society at large, has long thrived on such binaries, shaping narratives that confine women to singular traits.
The Lok Sabha MP’s point challenges this very framework. A woman can be ambitious and vulnerable, intellectual and playful, traditional and rebellious – all at once. Reducing her to just one identity erases the fluidity that defines human experience. Patriarchal structures, in particular, have historically benefited from such categorisation, making it easier to judge, control, or dismiss women based on how well they “fit” a mould. But real individuality resists neat definitions. It shifts, evolves, and refuses to be pinned down.
Why it still matters
Nearly a decade later, Kangana’s words feel just as relevant – if not more. While conversations around identity, self-expression, and gender roles have evolved, the tendency to label and box women persists, especially in the age of social media where personas are often flattened into digestible stereotypes.
From being judged for their appearance to being scrutinised for their choices, women continue to navigate a world that tries to define them before they can define themselves. The actor-turned-politician’s quote serves as a reminder to push back against that instinct – to allow women the space to be multifaceted, contradictory, and entirely their own. Because empowerment isn’t about fitting into a better box; it’s about refusing the box altogether.
