"No country treats pornstars like we do...": Kangana addresses past comment on Urmila Matondkar

Mar 27, 2024

New Delhi [India], March 27 : Actor Kangana Ranaut, who is set to mark her electoral debut from Himachal's Mandi in the ensuing general elections, on Wednesday opened up on a past comment on fellow Bollywood colleague Urmila Matondkar, in which she addressed the latter as a 'softcore porn actress'.
Speaking at the Times Now Summit on Wednesday, Kangana addressed her past comment, which evoked trolling from netizens.
"Is soft porn or pornstar an objectionable term? No! It is not an objectionable term. It is a word that is not socially acceptable. , utna respect poore world mein kisiko nahi mil sakta (No other country treats porn stars with suh respect as we do...you can ask Sunny Leone," Kangana said. I was asked to comment on Urmila ji (Matondkar) asking on what basis was the BJP considering me for a foray into politics. That was her question. I believe there are different realms of art. Sensational art, the one we refer to as massy art, which only titillates or physically stimulates you, that is also an art form. However, that can never be superior to the art that is intellectually motivating, one which stimulates your mind. I personally believe that I belong to that balanced cinema artiste tribe. I have never done item numbers. So, all I said was that if she could join a party (Congress) with her kind of filmography, then I have a more ravishing body of work. In fact, what I am saying is why being a pornstar socially acceptable and not a prostitute? Why do we have this kind of mindset for prostitutes while we accept pornstars socially? Is it because they have more money? Do they have (more) glamour? We don't treat prostitutes the same way as pornstars."
Urmila made her political debut as a Congress candidate in the 2019 Lok Sabha election from the Mumbai North constituency.
However, she resigned from the Congress after a brief dalliance and joined the Shiv Sena in 2020.
Earlier, in 2020, Urmila hit out at Kangana for allegedly disrespecting Jaya Bachchan, after the veteran actor claimed that the entire film industry was being 'tarnished' in a 2020 speech in Parliament.
In an interview Urmila said, "Kangana wasn't even born when Jaya-ji found fame in the film industry. We're talking about a lady here (Jaya Bachchan) who has been an icon. Which part of Indian culture tells you to lash out at people like this?"
To this, Kangana issued a statement earlier that read, "I saw one very derogatory interview given by Urmila Matondkar. The way she was talking about me, pulling faces, making a mockery about my struggles, attacking me on the fact that I am trying to appease the BJP for a ticket. One doesn't have to be a genius to figure that for me it is not very difficult to get a ticket. Urmila is a soft porn star. She is not known for her acting for sure, what is she known for? For doing soft porn right. If she could get a ticket, why wouldn't I get a ticket?"