Kangana Ranaut and Saurav Das Engage in War of Words Over Gen Z Protesters

The student protest may have ended, but the war of words between actor-politician Kangana Ranaut and CJP spokesperson Saurav Das appears to be just beginning. The two have been locked in a heated exchange after Kangana made a series of harsh remarks about Gen Z protesters, calling them “gutter generation” and describing their videos as “puke-inducing.” Now, Saurav has hit back, saying his friends believe he resembles a younger Hrithik Roshan and suggesting that Kangana’s remarks sounded “frustrated” and were not those of someone who was “mentally stable.” Speaking to Barkha Dutt on The Mojo Story, Saurav said he had no personal animosity towards the actor and accused Kangana of making the exchange personal. “See, I have nothing personal against Kangana. She is the one using personal remarks against Gen Z and now against me. As I said on my Instagram Story today, ‘Yo, Kangana, just take a chill pill. Let’s talk this out.’ That is how it should be.” He added that the lack of dialogue had become a major problem in the country. “The problem in this country is that people don’t talk anymore. There is less deliberation, discussion and debate. We should stay within our limits while speaking. That is what I would tell her.” Addressing Kangana’s repeated criticism of him, Saurav said his friends had also questioned why the actor-politician appeared to be targeting him. “My friends were texting me and asking, ‘Why is she after your life?’ One of them said that I may look a little like a young Hrithik Roshan. This is what my friends told me. I was pleasantly surprised. Why should someone like her attack someone like me?” He went on to urge Kangana to be more careful with her words. “But in any case, be that as it may, I would just say: be careful of your words. Don’t sound frustrated. It is sounding very frustrated. These are not the words or sentences of someone who is mentally stable. Just think before speaking about the future generation of this country because, ultimately, she serves at the pleasure of the people. The government is at the pleasure of the people, and people cannot be disrespected in this manner.” When asked whether he would be open to having coffee with the MP, Saurav said, “Of course. We harbour no ill will against anybody, including BJP MPs.” The exchange began after Saurav strongly criticised Kangana for her comments about Gen Z protesters on Instagram. Sharing her reaction to videos from the protests, Kangana wrote, “Never in my life have I seen so much ugliness in one place. These reels from Gen Z protests are puke-inducing—the way they speak and the kind of language they are using. Never in my life have I seen everything in every frame so jarring and so crass all at once. Ewwww, who is birthing and raising them?” She added, “You call yourself cockroaches and look/behave like them as well. There is no paradox or juxtaposition there, just simply subjecting the world to your filth, garbage and ugliness. I am scarred from these reels, need some healing, digital detox.” Reacting to her remarks, Saurav told ANI, “Even members of her own party don’t pay much heed to Kangana Ranaut or take her seriously, so why should we? I don’t think anyone in Gen Z, Gen Alpha or any younger generation takes her seriously or listens to what she says.” ALSO READ | Mahima Makwana lived in a chawl, lost father at 5 months, now owns 2 Mumbai homes at 26 He also referred to an earlier video in which Kangana spoke about the workload involved in being a Member of Parliament. “She is a politician now. There were videos from when she visited her constituency in Himachal Pradesh where she remarked that she had expected the job to require very little work, only to realise that being a Member of Parliament involves a massive amount of labour. That speaks volumes about her own seriousness.” Kangana later responded to Saurav on Instagram, questioning how he continued to identify himself as a student at the age of 28. “I just Googled this person and he is 28 years old. And he claims to be a student. How he claims to be a student, I have no clue! At his age, I had two National Awards.” Defending her earlier remarks about being overwhelmed by her responsibilities as an MP, Kangana wrote, “Yes, as a new parliamentarian, I was overwhelmed with all the work because I am also a filmmaker, performing artist, producer, screenwriter and entrepreneur.” She then launched a personal attack on Saurav, writing, “But someone like him, who is totally useless and unemployed, will never understand what it means to be in massive demand at all times, at any age. Dear Saurav, your issues are personal. You are not a student; you are simply useless. Let’s start with learning some skill. It’s a good place to start.”