Kangana Ranaut

Kangna Ranaut (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. She left for Delhi after a few months of college. She then moved to Delhi to become a model. She also joined the Elite Modelling Agency in Delhi in 2003 with the prospect of becoming a model.

Ranaut started her career as a theatre actor in Delhi with the Asmita Theatre Group She trained under eminent theatre director Arvind Gaur. She participated in his theatre workshop at India Habitat Centre and acted in several plays. Her first play with Arvind Gaur was Girish Karnad's Taledanda (Rakt-Kalyan).

Ranaut joined Asha Chandra's three-month course in 2004 to brush herself to face camera. Ranaut moved to Mumbai to try her luck in movies. During September 2005, Hindi film-maker Anurag Basu spotted her having coffee in a cafe in Mumbai, and offered her the leading role in Gangster, written by Mahesh Bhatt, and she accepted it.

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).