Are these actresses more deserving than Kangana?

In March 2020, Kangana Ranaut said if her performance in Manikarnika doesn't win a National Award, it will raise a doubt on its credibility, not hers.

In March 2021, Ranaut becomes the recipient of her fourth National Award, only one short of Shabana Azmi's five win record, for not just Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi, but Panga as well.

The jury's decision has left quite a few rolling their eyes.

Of late, the actress's political affiliations and spitfire tongue escalating in inflammatory tweets and bitter quarrels has rendered her more provocative than popular.

As compelling as she is on screen, do you think Kangana Ranaut's win is deserving enough of a fourth-time honour?

Sukanya Verma looks at other contenders from Bollywood movies who gave really, really, good performances.

 

Geetika Vidya Ohlyan and Saloni Batra, Soni

The two leading ladies of Ivan Ayr's quietly effective drama, about a pair of Delhi cops surviving everyday misogyny, are so rock solid, you cannot separate one from the other.

Featured on every Best Actress list of the year, the duo could certainly share a National Award win.

Sanya Malhotra, Photograph

Sanya is the real deal.

Instead of overactive publicists, sensational quotes or eye-balls grabbing social media, the actress steals the scene film after film by disappearing in the skin of her character.

The fragility and desire she conveys as a scholar striking connection with a street photographer in Ritesh Batra's gentle romance says volumes about her capability.

 

Vidya Balan, Mission Mangal

Vidya's delightful blend of heart and brains comes to fore every time she resourcefully applies her scientific know-how in the domestic space and vice versa.

Her disarming depiction of the multi-tasking Indian woman around a film that doesn't shy away from pat-on-our-back patriotism is tailor-made for National Award glory.

 

Bhumi Pednekar, Sonchiriya

Bhumi delivers yet another winner as a rural woman single-handedly taking on patriarchy in her risky efforts to rescue a minor and victim of sexual abuse.

The sheer earthiness and aggression she exudes in her performance is as exciting as the hope she embodies.

 

Kangana Ranaut, Judgementall Hai Kya

If the award had to be Kangana's only, her work in Judgementall Hai Kya is arguably more layered and complex in how it weaves artistic vision around mental health.

The actress has her pulse on conflicting emotions, the person she is and the person she is perceived to be. Whether irony or illusion, it makes both -- her torment and triumph -- a tremendous experience to witness.

What do you think? Please list your favourite performance in the message board below.