Kangna Ranaut unfairly targetted Alia Bhatt - says Randeep Hooda

In a recent interview, Randeep Hooda addressed Kangana Ranaut's past criticism of Alia Bhatt in 2019, stating that he felt Kangana's remarks were unfair and that he defended Alia because of it.

In 2019, Kangana Ranaut criticized Alia Bhatt's performance in the hit film "Gully Boy," labeling it as 'mediocre.' During that time, a poll conducted by entertainment website Bollywood Life sought fans' opinions on the best performance by a female actor in 2019. Kangana emerged as the winner with 37 per cent of the votes for her role in "Manikarnika," released the same year, while Alia secured a close second with 33 per cent of the votes.

When contacted by the publication regarding her victory over Alia, Kangana responded, “I am embarrassed... what is there to beat in her Gully Boy performance... same snappy muh phat (outspoken) girl... Bollywood’s idea of a fiery girl, woman empowerment and good acting, spare me this embarrassment, please. Media has taken filmy kids love too far. Stop pampering mediocre work or else bar will never be raised.”

In response to Kangana's statement, Alia expressed, “I respect Kangana’s work a lot and I respect her opinion. If she feels a particular way, she must have a reason to feel that way. I would rather remember how much she had praised me after watching Raazi. And I’d just like to focus on my work. Maybe she will appreciate me again if I work hard enough.”

Soon after Kangana's comment on Alia went viral, Randeep Hooda took to X (formerly Twitter) to defend Alia. He wrote, “Dearest Alia, I’m so glad you are not letting the opinions of very occasional actors and chronic victims affect you and your work .. kudos to you for your continued efforts to outdo yourself.” Alia acknowledged his support and replied, “Randy (smiling face with open arms emojis)."

Randeep, who recently appeared in "Swatantrya Veer Savarkar," had a conversation with chat show host Siddharth Kannan, during which Kannan inquired about why he had stood up for Alia Bhatt back in 2019.

Randeep revealed that he had forged a spiritual connection with Alia during their time co-starring in Imtiaz Ali's "Highway." He expressed, “While making Highway, I developed a spiritual bond with Alia. I don’t know if it’s the same for her. That’s up to her. I can only speak for myself. I have seen that she has always tried to do new things. I stood up for Alia genuinely because she was unfairly targeted (by Kangana Ranaut).”

He then added, “To target your fellow actors or your colleagues or your fraternity over things that you feel you did not get, even though I think you did get a lot from this industry, it’s just unbecoming. I felt that I should do it (defend Alia) and I did it. I did not think about it so deeply. I think she (Alia) tries every time,” he said, emphasizing the importance of supporting colleagues and refraining from unnecessary criticism within the industry.