Taapsee asks media to move on from Kangana spat amid fresh war of words

Actor Taapsee Pannu on Tuesday, August 25, urged the media to stop questioning her about her long-running spat with actor-politician Kangana Ranaut, saying the controversy would have ended long ago had reporters stopped bringing it up.

At the trailer launch of her upcoming Netflix film "Gandhari", Taapsee was asked about fresh remarks made by Kangana against her.

“Aap khatam kyun nahi hone dete yeh baat?” Taapsee said, asking why the issue was not being allowed to end. She added that the controversy would come to an end if the media stopped asking both actors questions about it.

Taapsee also suggested that the continued interest in their exchanges was encouraging reporters to repeatedly raise the subject.

“Aap sab logon ko maza aa raha hai yeh sab dekh ke, isiliye wahi sawaal puch rahe hain,” she said, adding that the matter would have ended had such questions stopped.

The two actors have never been directly involved in a confrontation, but their public differences date back to 2019, when Kangana's sister Rangoli Chandel described Taapsee as a “sasti copy” of Kangana. The remark subsequently became a recurring feature of their exchanges.

Their disagreements later extended to issues including nepotism, the outsider debate and Kangana's criticism of the Hindi film industry's alleged “movie mafia”.

In a recent interview, Taapsee said she had never met Kangana and that her views about her reflected their different upbringings and approaches.

“I haven’t met her. I didn’t meet her before when these so-called issues started. I haven't met her now as well,” she had said.

Taapsee added that Kangana had her own way of perceiving things and that she stood by her views, leaving people to decide for themselves “who comes from where”.

Kangana subsequently criticised Taapsee on Instagram Stories, again referring to her as a “sasti copy” and accusing her of ridiculing her upbringing and parents.

She questioned why Taapsee's parents had not “birth[ed] someone original” like her own parents, while expressing sympathy for what she described as Taapsee's efforts.

On Monday, Kangana again hit out at Taapsee along with actors Ashutosh Rana, Sonu Sood and Rakhi Sawant.

She accused them of making remarks about her and said that people who had not achieved even one per cent of the success she had achieved in life would not be in a position to advise her.
(With inputs from PTI)