Kangana Ranaut

Kangana Ranaut

Kangana Ranaut is an Indian actress and filmmaker who works in Hindi films. The recipient of several awards, including three National Film Awards and four Filmfare Awards, she has featured six times in Forbes India's Celebrity 100 list.

Born: 23 March 1987 (age 33 years), Bhambla

Other names: Kangna Ranaut

Awards: Padma Shri, Filmfare Award for Best Actress, National Film Award for Best Actress, more

Education: DAV College Managing Committee, Elite School of Modeling, Science College, New York Film Academy | Battery Place, New York

Albums: Bollywood Laughs with Bade Chote, Vol. 1

Born in Bhambla, a small town in Himachal Pradesh, Ranaut initially aspired to become a doctor at the insistence of her parents. Determined to build her own career path, she relocated to Delhi at age sixteen, where she briefly became a model. After training under the theatre director Arvind Gaur, Ranaut made her feature film debut in the 2006 thriller Gangster, for which she was awarded the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut. She received praise for portraying emotionally intense characters in the dramas Woh Lamhe (2006), Life in a... Metro (2007) and Fashion (2008). For the last of these, she won the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Ranaut featured in the commercially successful films Raaz: The Mystery Continues (2009) and Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai (2010), though she was criticised for being typecast in neurotic roles. A comic role opposite R. Madhavan in Tanu Weds Manu (2011) was well-received, though this was followed by a series of brief, glamorous roles in films that failed to propel her career forward. This changed in 2013 when she played a mutant in the science fiction film Krrish 3, one of the highest-grossing Indian films. Ranaut went on to win two consecutive National Film Awards for Best Actress for playing a naive woman in the comedy-drama Queen (2014) and a dual role in the comedy sequel Tanu Weds Manu: Returns (2015), which ranks as the biggest-earning female-led Hindi film. She then starred in a series of commercial failures, with the exception of her co-directorial venture, the biopic Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi (2019), in which she portrayed the titular warrior.

Ranaut is credited in the media as one of the most fashionable celebrities in the country, and she has launched her own clothing lines for the brand Vero Moda. Her reputation for expressing her opinions in public and her troubled personal and professional relationships have frequently sparked controversy.

Ranaut has been the recipient of three National Film Awards: Best Supporting Actress for Fashion (2008) and Best Actress for Queen (2014) and Tanu Weds Manu Returns (2015). She has also won four Filmfare Awards: Best Female Debut for Gangster (2006), Best Supporting Actress for Fashion, Best Actress for Queen, and Best Actress – Critics for Tanu Weds Manu Returns. In 2020, Ranaut was awarded the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award, by the Government of India, for her contribution to arts.