Exclusive| Annu Kapoor on Kangana Ranaut's reaction: Not knowing someone or something isn't a crime

The war of words between actors Kangana Ranaut and Annu Kapoor has been making headlines. It all started when Kapoor was asked at a press conference for his latest film, about Ranaut being slapped by a CISF constable at the Chandigarh airport.

He in turn replied by saying he didn’t know who is she. “Yeh Kangana ji kaun hain? Please batao na kaun hain? Zaahir hai aap pooch rahe hain toh koi bahut badi heroine hongi? Sundar hain kya?” When a media person shared she is now an elected MP from Mandi, Kapoor said, “Oho woh bhi ho gayi! Abhi toh bahut shaktishaali ho gayi hain. Ek sundar hai toh hume waese hi unse jalan horahi hai kyuki hum toh bohut bhadde...aadmi hai. Uske baad powerful hai. Aap bolrahe hai kisi officer nein unhe thappad maar diya? Toh unko puri kaarwahi karni chahiye definitely.”

Not one to stay mum, Ranaut posted a reply on her Instagram stories post this, “Do you agree with Annu Kapoor ji that we tend to hate a successful woman, hate her more if she is beautiful and hate her even more passionately if she is powerful? Is it true?”

We reach out to Kapoor, and he feels Ranaut ‘should focus on her work as an MP’, “I am not interested in anybody’s beauty or power. Apna achha kaam karo. You have been entrusted with such a big responsibility, work for the motherland, if you can. Bekaar ki cheezon pe dhyaan mat kheencho apna.”

Kapoor further says that he didn’t understand what she exactly meant in her reply to him. “This word called ‘hatred’ doesn’t exist in my mind, psyche or dictionary. I don’t hate anyone. Somebody told me all this is going on after she replied. So I wrote a letter addressed to her and my media person posted it on my account,” says the 68-year-old.

He further tells us that he always respects women, “I love my wife and respect her like a goddess, my sister too. They are women, so I love every woman on this Earth. Toh yeh iss tarah ki chhoti baatein Annu Kapoor ke saath nahi karein that I am ‘jealous’ of beauty or power. Not knowing any person or place isn’t considered a crime. You can call me ignorant. I don’t watch films, so me not knowing who someone is should not be treated as a crime. Aaj kal ke bacche, God bless them.”