In Pictures: Kangana Ranaut’s take on witchcraft, drug abuse, Khans and more

‘I don’t feel gross about drug abuse’

"Growing up, my biggest fear was that if I am a loser of a woman then I would be called a whore, a witch, a psychopath and may be a drug addict and I have a lot of respect for the people who are struggling to come out of drug abuse. I have played a drug addict and I don’t feel anything gross about it."

‘Attempts are being made to destroy me’

"Attempts are being made to destroy me, they are working or not that’s a different scenario. If I genuinely feel sorry for something I have done or if I feel that the blame comes from a place I need to clarify, then I have no problem being called a witch."

‘Many people are insecure of many people’

"Many people are insecure of many people. There is envy but you don't subject this kind of brutality on anybody. It shows a different side of the society. The way we are discussing the most delicate matters, in a very brutal, negative and sadistic fashion, is disturbing. Attempts are being made to destroy me. Whether they are working or not is another matter."

‘The recent turn of events in my life has shocked me’

"The recent turn of events in my life has shocked me. It has been overwhelming and unsettling for me also. I was probably prepared for everything. But I wasn't prepared for this. This has brought about a different side of our society. It is very hard to come to terms with this kind of suppression, this sort of name-calling, this kind of witch-hunt mentality in the 21st century."

‘Witches – I love Shakespeare’

"As far as name-calling is concerned, we as women have been defending ourselves for way too long. These are thousand-year weapons that are still used against women. When they’re jealous of a woman’s success, the first thing she becomes is a daayan [witch]. If she’s crazily successful, she becomes a psychopath. If she’s sexually active, she becomes a whore. All of this is being used, and it’s really outdated. It doesn’t upset me, because I’m an artist and I’ve closely researched people who’ve dealt with mental illnesses, and I don’t find anything upsetting, gross, or degrading about fighting with a mental illness, which a certain portion of the media is trying to suggest – to humiliate a woman, you can use mental illness. It won’t work. I have played a schizophrenic, I’ve played a bipolar patient on screen… and I don’t see anything humiliating when they call me a psychopath, a bitch, or a whore. I’ve also played a whore on screen, and my close interaction with prostitutes has allowed me to be extremely empathetic to them. So it doesn’t work on me. Witches – I love Shakespeare, and like any other artist, I’m also smitten by witches, or fairies, or demons, or Gods, or mysticism, or romanticism. It doesn’t scare me. How would any of us hope to write a Harry Potter or be a Shakespeare if we instil so much fear and xenophobia in our children’s heads? We need to be a bit more open about anybody’s religious practices."

‘I’m my own hero on the sets’

"Initially, I wanted a traditional route where I wanted to work with big heroes. That didn’t happen with me. Now I get a lot of offers to work with the Khans. I’m my own hero on the sets, why should I work with other heroes? The Khans did not want to work with me when I started, why should I work with them now?"

‘I love that my father resisted my choices. It gave me a lot more stamina’

"I love that my father resisted my choices. It gave me a lot more stamina. Even when I was rebelling against my father, the point was to follow my own intuition and instinct."