Kangana Ranaut

Kangna Amardeep Ranaut was born on 23 March 1986 at Bhambla (now Surajpur), a small town in the Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh, into a Rajput family. Her mother, Asha Ranaut, is a school teacher, and her father, Amardeep Ranaut, is a businessman. She has an elder sister, Rangoli Chandel, who as of 2014 works as her manager, and a younger brother, Akshat. Her great-grandfather, Sarju Singh Ranaut, was a Member of the Legislative Assembly and her grandfather was an IAS officer. She grew up in a joint family at their ancestral haveli (mansion) in Bhambla, and described her childhood as "simple and happy".

According to Ranaut, she was "stubborn and rebellious" while growing up: "If my father would gift my brother a plastic gun and get a doll for me, I would not accept that. I questioned the discrimination." She did not subscribe to the stereotypes that were expected of her and experimented with fashion from a young age, often pairing up accessories and clothes that would seem "bizarre" to her neighbours. Ranaut was educated at the DAV School in Chandigarh, where she pursued science as her core subject, remarking that she was "very studious" and "always paranoid about [...] results". She initially intended to become a doctor on the insistence of her parents. However, a failed unit test in chemistry during her twelfth grade led Ranaut to reconsider her career prospects and despite preparing for the All India Pre Medical Test, she did not turn up for the exam. Determined to find her "space and freedom", she relocated to Delhi at the age of sixteen. Her decision not to pursue medicine led to constant feuding with her parents and her father refused to sponsor a pursuit he considered to be aimless.

In Delhi, Ranaut was unsure which career to choose; the Elite Modelling Agency were impressed by her looks and suggested that she model for them. She took on a few modelling assignments, but generally disliked the career as she found "no scope for creativity". Ranaut decided to shift focus towards acting and joined the Asmita Theatre Group, where she trained under the theatre director Arvind Gaur. She participated in Gaur's theatre workshop at the India Habitat Centre, acting in several of his plays, including the Girish Karnad-scripted Taledanda. During a performance, when one of the male actors went missing, Ranaut played his part along with her original role of a woman. A positive reaction from the audience prompted her to relocate to Mumbai to pursue a career in film and she enrolled herself for a four-month acting course in Asha Chandra's drama school.

Ranaut struggled with her meager earnings during this period, eating only "bread and aachar (pickle)". Refusing her father's financial assistance led to a rift in their relationship which she later regretted. Her relatives were unhappy with her decision to enter the film-making industry, and they did not correspond with her for several years. She reconciled with them after the release of Life in a... Metro in 2007.Ranaut identifies with right-wing ideologies, and is a supporter of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. An active commenter on social media, she often expresses political views, speaks of her religious affiliation and activity, and voices criticism of liberals as well as the Hindi film industry. Her direct ways and confrontational manner, as evidenced in several well-reported public clashes with colleagues around her views, have attracted some media scrutiny. In May 2021, Twitter permanently suspended her account for repeated violations of the company's abusive behaviour and hateful conduct policies. She returned to the platform when the ban was lifted in January 2023.

Ranaut has been active on commenting on political figures, some of which have resulted in serious criticism and backlash from several political leaders. She criticized then Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and his Government for mishandling the death of Sushant Singh Rajput in September 2020, following which several Shiv Sena leaders, including Sanjay Raut issued death threats to her. Additionally, on the orders of Shiv Sena leadership, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation issued a backdated notice for illegal modifications of her house and demolished the illegal portions. Following the demolishion, the Bombay High Court criticized the BMC and ruled in her favour, noting that BMC acted with malice and ordered the BMC to pay compensation to Ranaut. Given the nature of threats, Ranaut was given security from the Central Reserve Police Force from the Central Government.

In March 2024, she was named by the BJP as a candidate for the 2024 Indian general election, which she contested from the Mandi Lok Sabha constituency. She won the seat after being elected over her main opponent Vikramaditya Singh. On 6 June 2024, Ranaut was slapped by a Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) constable at Chandigarh Airport in response to comments she had made on farmers protesting against a set of laws. The same year, Ranaut continued to make further remarks regarding the Farmers Protest and the Farm Laws, which drew criticism, leading the BJP to reprimand her and distance itself from her statements.