Kangna Ranaut (Hindi: कंगना रानौत); born 20 March 1987) is an Indian actress who acts in Bollywood films. She made her Bollywood debut in 2006 in Gangster. She won both a Filmfare and a National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as a troubled model in Fashion (2008).
Ranaut was born to Asha, a school teacher, and Amardeep, a businessman, in a Himachali Rajput family. She has an elder sister, Rangoli and a younger brother, Akshit. She was born in a small town called Bhambla in Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh. Her family lives in Mandi.
She did her schooling in Chandigarh, from DAV model school Sector 15.
She took admission in Government College for Girls Sector 11, in Bachelors of Arts program. After a few months of college, she moved to Delhi to become a model and joined the Elite Modelling Agency in 2003.
Ranaut joined Asha Chandra's course in 2004 to brush herself to face camera. Ranaut moved to Mumbai to try her luck in movies. In September 2005, Anurag Basu spotted her in a cafe in Mumbai, and offered her the lead role in Gangster, which she accepted. Released in 2006, the film became both critically and commercially successful and her performance was especially applauded. This was followed by another acclaimed performance in Woh Lamhe (2006).
Later, Kangna starred in Anurag Basu's Life In A... Metro. Her performance in the film earned her rave reviews. She also starred in Shakalaka Boom Boom (2007) as an aspiring singer. Her next film, Fashion, starring Priyanka Chopra and Mugdha Godse, was released in 2008. The film, portraying the dark side of the fashion world, was a critical success, and Ranaut's portrayal of a supermodel who loses everything to drugs gained her widespread praise, fetching her various awards, including the prestigious Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award and National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Her last successful film was a thriller Raaz - The Mystery Continues with Emraan Hashmi. The movie has been a commercial success and was declared as first reasonable hit of 2009. Her next release was Vaada Raha with Bobby Deol. She starred in Ek Niranjan, a Telugu film directed by Puri Jagannadh, whose previous film Pokiri has been remade in Hindi as Wanted. Kangna was seen opposite Hrithik Roshan in Kites.
