Kangana Ranaut’s father says her birth wasn’t reason to celebrate

Mumbai, March 10 (IANS) After National Award winning actress Kangana Ranaut made a bold confession that she was the "unwanted child" in her family, her father has opened up about the "backward" thinking about girls in their village. He says the "Queen" star's birth was not a "celebration" in their house.

Amardeep Ranaut, who stays in Himachal Pradesh, opened up about his daughter Kangana's latest statement, and told IANS: "When she was born, that time the atmosphere in our village about a girl child was very backward. It was not like a celebration, but it was more like a funeral.

"The villagers used to come to our house and say, 'Oh, now a daughter again'. So, there was no celebration, nor did we distribute sweets. We were hoping that since we had lost our son, another son would come back."

The actress, who has delivered crtitically acclaimed and commercially successful films one after the other in Bollywood, just earlier this week opened up about her ordeal as a girl child in her family. She had even spoken about a male child that her parents had before having her elder sister Rangoli, but he had died within 10 days of his birth.

While Rangoli's birth was celebrated, the same was not the case when Kangana came into the world.

However, with her success story, the actress has proved naysayers wrong, and has time and again supported women empowerment.

She has even stood by the side of her sister Rangoli, an acid attack survivor, who now works with Kangana as her manager. Together, they have both appeared on the latest cover of a magazine.

Talking about her sister, Rangoli said: "When Kangana was born, there was no joy and celebration. I remember when she was born, our relatives used to come at our place and call her by a word, which in 'pahadi' means unwanted. She was so sensitive that these things influenced her. Things have still not changed there (in our birthplace), and that's why we are supporting this cause (of girl child)."