Kangana Ranaut On Nationalism: I Won't Grow If India Doesn't Grow

Actor Kangana Ranaut today said that she is a nationalist and felt that her own progress as an individual is linked to the country's growth. The "Simran" actor said she does not believe in religion and has come to the conclusion that her only identity is that she is an Indian. "As a youth, I want to see growth in my life. I have come to this conclusion that if India does not grow then I won't grow. I am an Indian and born an Indian. I have no other identity," Kangana said.

Kangana was speaking at a session at the News18 Rising India Summit. "I said in some interview that I am a nationalist. People said 'oh you are that type of a person'. I was like 'what do you mean by that kind?' I personally feel that there is a confusion between these words.

"Before all of this, I hadn't even heard of the term nationalism. The good thing is that at least the word has got out. That there is a word like nationalism. You can have a choice whether you want to believe in it or not," Kangana said.

The actor confessed that she is a "fan" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said that woman in the country need to have right role models.

"I am a big Modi fan because of his success story. As a young woman I do believe that we need to have right role models. I mean the graph and the ambition of an ordinary man and whenever we have a PM who is a chaiwala, then I always say that it is not his victory but it is the victory of our democracy. I feel he is the right role model," he said.

Kangana also weighed on about the controversy surrounding the Pakistani artists working in India, and said artistic world is different from physical world.

"Artistic realm is different from physical realm. When you are talking about physical boundaries and you are talking about borders, why be esoteric. You should know about a place where people are losing lives.

"At the time of ban on Pakistani artists, the country is vulnerable where people are struggling and trying to cope with emotions. The common sentiment is 'Humko kya Lena dena, hum toh artist hai'. This is not going to work. Above everything, you are Indians as well, and when you are talking about boundaries, you can't go into esoteric world and say 'I am an artist'," Kangana said.

She also wondered why people have a problem with standing up for national anthem and cited the example of Americans.

"The Americans stand for their national anthem. Why do feel ashamed of standing? If you want to learn something from Americans, then learn good things from them," she said.

Asked if a person does not agree with her opinion, Kangana said, "I don't mind. But I am going to stand for my national anthem. Whenever there is something for my country, then I am going to side with my country, my soldiers, my army and I am a cool youngster of 21st century."

She was also critical of the people who whine about lack of infrastructure and cleanliness in the country and said they should take an initiative to clean the country. "I meet people and it has become a cool thing to say bad things about your country...I hear the youths always complaining and whining that 'the country does not have infrastructure and it is so dirty'... This attitude is not okay. If the country is dirty, then are you the guests? Why don't you clean it."