At the age of writing love letters, I started struggling: Kangana

NEW DELHI: Kangana Ranaut, known for leading life on her own terms, recently opened up on her struggling days and rebellious life. While speaking to Anupam Kher, on his chat show 'Anupam Kher's People' for a leading channel, the 30-year-old actress said, at the age of writing love letters and going on blind dates, she was busy working, with "talented" people like Mahesh Bhatt. "At the age when girls write love letters or go on blind dates, I used to work for long hours. I used to sit with intellectual people like Mahesh Bhatt and other social thinkers and talented artists and when you sit with people like them as a teenager, you can't actually say anything," she said. Adding, "I never got the time to play around and being a kid. When I was a teenager I already started struggling and I used to be on the sets. At the age of 17, I was already in a do or die situation. I have always been rebellious and I left my home at an early age, hence I could never get the time to be like a kid." She also spoke on nepotism and the much-talked about debate she had with Karan Johar on his show 'Koffee with Karan.' "Honestly, the debate did not affect me at all. I am quite self-sufficient at this point of time in my life as I have also launched my own production house. I want to propagate my story and there should be nothing wrong about it. When Karan Johar posted a blog on nepotism, I felt it was more of a brainwash than being objective," she said. Adding, "Do these Bollywood kids know that it takes almost 10 years to build an audience and to get a critic. These star kids already start from a point where they have everything and they are not aware of the fact that for an outsider, it can take his entire lifetime to reach the starting point." The 'Queen' star also divulged the details on what gave her the freedom to become the "quintessential bad girl." "It took me 10 years to taste success after her film Gangster because of an unfortunate incident I faced. Struggle changes a person so much that no matter how much anyone tries to show you down, it doesn't affect you. Honestly, it gave me a freedom to become the quintessential bad girl." On the same note, the 'Tanu weds Manu' actress, who has been the target of several debates, when asked, is she someone who gets misunderstood easily, politely denied the statement saying, "I don't think I am misunderstood because I am an unusual person with an unusual life. The ones who get me they are also unusual people. I don't think I am misunderstood by a set of people I know but conventional people can have strong prejudice. Most of them who know me they know that she is someone who is hard to get." On the work front, the actress will next be seen in Hansal Mehta-helmed 'Simran' and later in 'Manikarnika-The Queen of Jhansi.'