Actress Taapsee Pannu has asked the media to stop repeatedly bringing up her long-running feud with Kangana Ranaut, saying the controversy would eventually end if both the public and the media stopped asking questions about it. Taapsee made the comments while promoting her upcoming film Gandhari, after being asked about recent allegations made against her by Kangana.
Taapsee appeared visibly uncomfortable with the question and questioned why the issue continued to be discussed. She said that repeated questions were keeping the controversy alive and suggested that the matter could have ended much earlier had the two actresses not continued to be asked about it.
“Why don't you let this matter end?” Taapsee said, adding that when people stop asking both actresses about the dispute, the issue would also come to an end.
Kangana's recent allegations
The latest exchange began after Kangana criticised Taapsee in social media posts that were subsequently deleted. Kangana accused Taapsee of trying to gain attention while promoting her upcoming film and described her as a “cheap copy.”
Kangana also alleged that Taapsee had crossed a line by making comments about her upbringing and parents. In another deleted post, she questioned why Taapsee's parents had not raised an “original human being” like her, while defending her own family and upbringing.
The comments brought the actresses' old public disagreements back into the spotlight.
Kangana defends her family
Kangana later shared a news report featuring comments attributed to Taapsee and responded to criticism concerning her background. She said that questions about her upbringing and parents had surfaced repeatedly and defended her family's background.
Kangana described herself as coming from a prestigious Rajput landlord family and said her parents were well educated. She also maintained that leaving her family and starting her career from scratch was her own decision.
According to Kangana, her parents and upbringing should not be brought into arguments about the career choices she made.
Feud dates back to 2018-19
The disagreement between the two actresses goes back several years. Their public exchanges became particularly noticeable around 2018 and 2019, when Taapsee commented during the promotion of Manmarziyaan that Kangana needed a filter while expressing her opinions.
The situation intensified in 2019 after Taapsee praised the trailer of Kangana's film Judgementall Hai Kya without specifically mentioning Kangana. Kangana's sister Rangoli Chandel subsequently criticised Taapsee and called her a “sasti copy”.
The phrase became closely associated with the dispute and was repeatedly discussed in entertainment media.
Bollywood outsider debate
The Taapsee-Kangana dispute also unfolded against the wider debate over nepotism and opportunities for outsiders in the Hindi film industry. That discussion became significantly more intense following the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput in 2020.
During that period, Kangana criticised several actors while discussing nepotism and had referred to Taapsee and Swara Bhasker as “B-grade actresses”, arguing that they supported an industry system they had themselves entered as outsiders.
Taapsee subsequently argued that outsiders should not fight among themselves, highlighting the broader tensions surrounding the debate.
Taapsee wants controversy to end
Years after their most prominent exchanges, Taapsee's latest comments indicate that she does not want to continue discussing the dispute publicly.
Her response also reflects how older celebrity disagreements can remain part of entertainment coverage long after the original exchanges have taken place. Every new comment can revive the discussion, particularly when both actors continue to have active film careers.
For now, Taapsee appears keen to shift the focus back to her upcoming projects rather than revisit her equation with Kangana. Her appeal was straightforward: if questions about the feud stop, she believes the controversy can finally be allowed to end.
