Kangana Ranaut recently began her political journey as a candidate for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from her hometown, Mandi, in Himachal Pradesh for the 2024 Lok Sabha election. On Friday, Kangana again praised fellow actor and BJP leader Hema Malini. She took to Instagram Stories to reshare a throwback video of Hema in her early twenties, performing on stage. 

Kangana Ranaut gushes about Hema Malini

Along with the video, Kangana wrote, “20-year-old Hema ji performing on stage. Even now, Hema ji can give 3-4 hours long performance on stage. Jo log nritya, sangeet aur kala ka mazak banate hain, woh neech aur choti soch rakhte hain (People who make fun of dance, music and art have shallow thinking).”

She added, "Devlok mein Arjun ne bhi nritya, sangeet aur kala mein shiksha li thi. Lord Shiv ne yog ki saath yeh kalayein manushya ko di hai. Tabhi toh woh Natraj kehlate hain (Arjun learnt the art of dance and music. Lord Shiva has given humans such art, hence he is known as Natraj)."

Watch Hema Malini dance in throwback video

The original video was shared by Old Is Gold Films on Instagram with the caption, "Watch: Beautiful 20-year-old Hema Malini performing Bharatnatyam in 1968 is a pure presentation of devotion and dedication to art."

A person commented on it, “Not 1968, for sure. She was already in movies by then. This must be mid 1960s, like 64-65.”

Kangana Ranaut defends Hema Malini

Earlier this month, the actor-turned-politician extended her support to Hema, condemning what she described as sexist and misogynistic remarks made by Congress leader Randeep Surjewala. Kangana praised Hema for dedicating her entire life to the arts and denounced such comments as despicable.

She had said, “If they see a young woman, they comment on her body. And a 75-year-old senior woman, who is a Bharatanatyam dancer, is called ‘nachaniya’ or dancer and abuses like this. They don’t even spare an elderly woman. What kind of life do they want women to live? Would it be better if they dig their own graves and bury themselves in it?”

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