It is high time that the media stands against stars who misuse their power and don’t know how to respect it. And this time, it is Kangana Ranaut who has crossed the line. At an event for her upcoming film Judgementall Hai Kya on Sunday, Kangana Ranaut tried to intimidate a journalist, accusing him of ridiculing her film Manikarnika and giving it bad press. After the showdown at the event, the media has finally united and has decided to boycott the Manikarnika actress. “We, as a guild, have collectively decided to boycott Ms. Ranaut and not give her any media coverage,” a delegation from the Entertainment Journalists’ Guild of India told producer Ekta Kapoor on Tuesday. In the letter, however, it was clarified that the boycott will not affect the film or the rest of the cast. Members of the Guild have also demanded a public apology from both Kapoor and Ranaut, journalists present at the meeting said. A member of the press says about the development, “It is good to see how media stands united against a star, and I only hope that this fire doesn’t die down. It is not right to use the media and throw them away as and when they want. It’s a lesson learnt for everyone, starting from Kangana.”
Going ahead, there will be absolutely no media coverage of any events where Kangana will be present. The paparazzi have also shown their support to this decision: They have decided to completely ignore her and not to photograph her at all. Following the development, an apology from the Balaji team was released on Wednesday morning which read: “A lot is being reported about the debate that ensued between our film Judgementall Hai Kya’s actor and journalist Justin Rao, at the film’s song launch event on July 7th, 2019. Unfortunately, the event took an unpleasant turn. While the people involved in it fairly held their own perspectives but because it happened at the event of our film, we, as the producers, would like to apologize and express regret for this untoward incident. We would like to maintain that our intention was not to disrespect or hurt anyone’s sentiments. Our film Judgementall Hai Kya releases on July 26th, and we urge the media to not let this one incident hamper the team effort that has gone behind making the film.”
Sources say that Ekta even asked Kangana to apologise for her behaviour but the actress remained defiant and dismissed Ekta’s request. Her motormouth sister even went a step ahead to further aggravate the current situation by abusing the media in foul language. “This time the sisters have crossed the line. It is disheartening to see how delusional Kangana has become about her own success that she doesn’t think twice before shooting her mouth. Rangoli is worse and she thinks it is her right to abuse everyone. Till now, we have stood by Kangana and have supported her actions. But not anymore,” says an industry source.
