I'd like to start this post off with the video starring Kangana herself, doing an amazing job at slaying the idea of sexism in Bollywood. Let's watch:
Kangana was one of the first Indian actresses to say what every Bollywood fan was thinking about sexism in Bollywood. Female actresses in this industry have always been powerful and confident, but were made to bow down to the unspoken rules Bollywood holds. They had to be pretty, fair, a good dancer and be silent when inappropriate comments were made towards them.
In every Indian film, the woman played somebody's wife, sister, daughter who always had to act obedient to the man and act timid, waiting for a male to save them. Kangana fought against this stereotype in many ways, including contributing to eliminating the rule that all makeup artists in Bollywood films had to be male. It wasn't until recently that the first female graced the movie sets.
Kangana starred in the movie Manikarnika where she played a female soldier who was defeating the British, which was a very rare sight until today.
Kangana never stayed silent about her views, never obeyed the industry, and so the industry adapted to her instead.
See the trailer for Manikarnika below.