Kangana: Was Called Psycho Because I Was Different

“Ain’t I getting fishnet stockings back in fashion,” laughs Kangana Ranaut, referring to her zany look in Mental Hai Kya. Ahead of the film rolling, producer Ekta Kapoor has piqued the audience interest by sharing quirky looks of Ranaut and Rajkummar Rao from the promotional photo shoot. “The film deals with mental illness and hallucinations, but Ekta decided to take this route.”

Rajkummar Rao says “unique script” floored him. “I chose this part because I’ve never heard of such a character. I get a kick from challenges. Comfort zones are boring.” For Kangana Ranaut though, the choice was driven by a personal reason. “The way my life unfolded in the past few years, I realised there was so much stigma attached to being different. ‘Mental’ or ‘psycho’ were the terms used to shame me, but these can’t be used casually as swear words. When this script came along, I knew I had to do it to break the stigma around it. High time we made individuality aspirational.”