Rani Returns… But Does She Recognise Herself?

Queen Poster

There’s a certain charm in how films return, like old friends who insist nothing has changed, even when everything clearly has.

So when whispers of Queen finding a sequel began, nostalgia did what it does best: it settled comfortably and refused to ask too many questions. After all, Rani’s world was simple then, with its rebellions like small acts and quiet courage. It was a kind of feminism which didn’t require introducing itself.  

At the centre of that memory is Kangana Ranaut, wide-eyed then, wonderfully unsure, almost as if she had stumbled into liberation by accident. Now, a little over a decade later, the same face returns. It seems familiar, but not quite the same. And perhaps that’s where things get more interesting.

Because somewhere between Kangana the actor and Rani the character, some things have shifted. Opinions were formed, and definitions were adjusted. At an interview, Kangana casually observed that “feminism is a misused word,” adding that she prefers her own version of it. A flexible approach, one might say, custom-made— like a well-fitted outfit. On another occasion, she mentioned, almost thoughtfully, that if feminism means making everything a “prerogative of women,” then she isn’t quite on board. This is not a dismissal. But more like stepping slightly to the side of the label, just enough to keep things open-ended.

There have been gentler musings too, about how, ideally, we should arrive at a world that doesn’t need feminism at all. Though a lovely thought, it is almost utopian. The kind that floats well in interviews, even if reality tends to be a little less cooperative. And then, of course, the occasional reminder that men and women are “not equal” because they have “different roles.” She said that without much fuss, like stating the weather. Nothing much dramatic.

Individually, these remarks don’t quite disrupt anything. They sit there, quietly. However, together, they form a sort of background noise which ultimately enables violence—persistent, yet wrapped neatly in privileged diplomacy.

Kangana tweet targeting Rihanna

But she really put the nail in her feminist coffin with her tweets. From slut-shaming talented women like Rihanna to publicly mocking and falsely accusing a 78-year-old female protester, Mohinder Kaur, of being a paid worker, she has managed to pull a 180 on her previously curated feminist image. 

Kangana tweet targeting protestor

Yes, feminist. This same woman had talked about empowering women and treating all women, including sex workers, with dignity. No, you're not the one losing the plot here, trust me. How does one go from this to bullying one of her contemporaries, Tapsee Pannu, by calling her “she-man”? Like ma'am, pick a side and stick to it. 

Kangana tweet

Which is perhaps why the idea of returning to Rani feels less like a continuation and more like a curious overlap of timelines. Because Rani never really debated feminism. She didn’t define it, customise it, or ideologically contradict it. She simply lived a version of it, awkwardly, imperfectly, but with a sincerity that made it feel real. Her world was smaller, her politics quieter, but her journey carried a feminist clarity that didn’t require footnotes.

Now imagine that same journey, revisited. Maybe rewritten, this time with political overtones that not only dilute the film, but also ruin the legacy of a cult-favourite “Queen.”

The question doesn’t announce itself; it hangs there, stubborn and a bit inconvenient: when Kangana’s own voice has shifted, sharper, louder, more certain of its stance, can Rani still stand distinctly politically like the same girl we once believed in? Or will Kangana mock Rani for finding liberation in her European trip?

Audiences, of course, are polite. They rarely interrogate too much, especially when nostalgia is involved. Many will return for the feeling, like the comfort of something once loved, the reassurance that some stories can be told again and still mean what they used to. But feminists, brace yourselves for disappointment because Rani might just return as Kangana 2.0.

Emergency (2020) Poster

This isn’t about subtle shifts anymore. This is about whether Queen 2, fronted by a voice that has repeatedly dismissed feminism as “misused,” distanced itself from the idea of equality, and leaned into overtly ideological, even propagandist storytelling, can end up undoing what Queen once stood for. Because Rani’s journey was never cosmetic, it was about choosing herself, without apology. It was about seeing women beyond the patriarchal gaze. It was about allowing your femininity to be defined by you. And when that story is now carried by someone who publicly questions the very framework that made it powerful, the risk isn’t inconsistency, it’s dilution and reimagination of something that was radically accurate the first time around. The kind that doesn’t just change the sequel, but quietly damages the memory of the original.

Because cinema allows for that. It allows us to look away when things don’t quite align. And yet, alignment is a curious thing. Especially in a film like Queen, where the power was never in grand gestures, but in the quiet consistency of its message.

Queen 2 will likely carry all the right elements like journey, self-discovery, independence in familiar ways, this time set in India, as per reports. It will say the right things at the right moments, but this time, those moments may openly lean into nationalist undertones, packaging Rani’s journey as a celebration of “Indian culture” and a safer, more conservative idea of womanhood. I mean, after Dhurandhar, this is hardly a guess—more a prediction. 

Now, somewhere between what is being said and who is saying it, the dissonance could actually be difficult to overlook. Can art exist outside politics? Can an actor-turned-politician promote ideologies that go against the mindset she champions as a BJP MLA? Is Queen more committed to Rani the character, or Kangana the actor? Making propaganda films is one thing, but if Ms Ranaut ruins Rani’s quiet radicalism, she will be having beef with me OOP-

Until next time, 

XOXO

💋 Gossip Gal 💋