Hansal Mehta Praises Kangana Ranaut In Viral Clip: ‘Hindustan Mein Kam Actresses Hain Unke Jaisi'

Ace director Hansal Mehta’s 2017 heist drama film Simran, headlined by Kangana Ranaut as the titular character, was not received well at the box office when it was released. The filmmaker even went on to call the film a “massive mistake” in an earlier interview and divulged his strained professional relationship with the actress. However, in a recent interview, Hansal was all praises about Kangana’s acting prowess and said that Simran not working well was not to Kangana’s discredit.

Talking to Aaj Tak, Hansal said, “Adaakar matlab kamaal hai. Hindustan main shayad kam actresses aayi ho jaise Kangana hai. Jo unhone kaam kiya hai past main, voh bohot accha kaam kiya hai. Simran main, matlab voh film bhale hi thodi weak thi, lekin uss film main Kangana ke performance ko aap nahi fault kar sakte ho (She is a wonderful actress. There are maybe only a few actresses in the country like Kangana. Her work in the past has been fantastic. Even though Simran was a weak film, but you can’t fault Kangana’s performance in the film).”

He added, “Aur main uss cheez ko respect karta hoon, bhale hi humare apne niji jo bhi differences hue ho uss waqt kaam karte waqt, humare process main ek clash ho uss waqt. Lekin voh respect as an artist main kabhi nahi kho sakta hoon kisi ke liye. Voh artist bohot acchi hai aur main hamesha yeh maintain karta hoon. (I respect her talent, despite our personal differences during the past when our processes clashed. But I cannot lose respect for someone as an artist. I have always maintained that she is a brilliant artist).”

For the unversed, things between Hansal and Kangana became strained when the filmmaker was asked about supporting Anna Hazare and Arvind Kejriwal in 2021. Hansal replied on X, formerly Twitter, “I supported him (Anna) in good faith. Like I later supported Arvind. I don’t regret it. All of us make mistakes. I made Simran.”

To this, Kangana replied, “That’s true Hansal sir, even you will agree with that, I stood by you and now you saying this, feel like singing ‘achcha sila diya tune mere payaar ka’.” To this, Hansal said, “Firstly, the tweet wasn’t about you. Secondly, there are things that happened after the film that left me more than hurt. It made me sorely regret making the film. All said and done you remain a fine, fine actor. And you have my respect for that. And for your kindness.”

However, in 2022, when Hansal addressed this exchange in an interview with Mashable, he said, “She is a very talented actor… who, I feel has limited herself by making films about herself. You need not make all the characters become what you want to believe you are,” hinting that all was not water under the bridge between the two.

Meanwhile, Kangana is gearing up for the release of her upcoming Tamil film Chandramukhi 2, a horror comedy in which she plays the titular character. She will also be seen playing Indira Gandhi in her directorial project Emergency.