Thread by @TaraKaushal

.@KanganaTeam is a metaphor, a symbol of the descent of this country since 2014. A thread. 👇

Eight years ago, I interviewed @KanganaTeam for the cover story of @BazaarIndia. I found her a “spunky, free-spirited Manali girl” on the brink of finding her voice, living a “modern-day fairy-tale Mumbai story with a powerful woman protagonist”. tarakaushal.com/writer/intervi…

I have watched her since—first with amazement, as she blossomed after Queen and her study stint in New York (2013-14-ish); then, with increasing disgust and horror... So much has changed since our interview.

.@KanganaTeam loved Mumbai. “Where I come from there are so many restrictions, social things to be followed. To me, Mumbai means freedom. You don’t know one another here; you don’t even know your neighbour. You can do anything, say or wear anything.” #irony

And she was indeed doing, saying and wearing anything. We had only 30 min, she was a little reserved, we didn’t have as instant a camaraderie as I’ve found with other interviewees and interviewers. Still, she was happy to talk freely about her string of relationships.

And laughed about the recent news that she had had a wardrobe malfunction while walking the ramp. “It wasn’t a wardrobe malfunction, the idea was to show my bum cheeks!… Why don’t they want to see that? Why don’t they want to see my bum cheeks!”

Bollywood some generations prior “had a lot more fun than we do, they were a lot more open and chilled out—people were in simultaneous live-in relationships, many were openly homosexual.” Now, the girls were “Miss Goody Two Shoes” and “Everybody’s boring!”

Today, @KanganaTeam is brittle and bitter and angry. Hypocrisy and hate harden her heart. A noxious drain for a brain, raging against the liberal-feminist values that gave her voice and agency to begin with.

She presents in six yards of sabhyata in a virginal white saree, seeking the power and protection of the establishment. That image is an emblem of her patriarchal bargain, and also of the patriotic bargain, or what passes as patriotism in the country’s current political climate.

She, like our country, has lost her way.