Kangana Ranaut clocks 20 years in films, recalls Gangster debut

Actress Kangana Ranaut marked 20 years in the entertainment industry by sharing her first portfolio shoot on Instagram, recalling how it led to her debut in Gangster (2006).

Mumbai: Actress Kangana Ranaut completed 20 years in the entertainment industry on Tuesday.

Commemorating the occasion, Kangana dropped a glimpse of her first portfolio shoot on the Stories section of her Instagram handle.

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Kangana revealed that it was these pictures that helped her land her role in her debut movie, “Gangster”.

“Today I completed 20 years in the film industry, this is my first portfolio by @jatinkampani that landed me the role of Simran in Gangster,” wrote the ‘Queen’ actress on the photo-sharing app.

Marking 2 decades of “Gangster” release, Kangana also uploaded a picture from her first magazine shoot.

Made under the direction of Anurag Basu, “Gangster” has been jointly produced by Mahesh Bhatt and Mukesh Bhatt of Vishesh Films.

The primary cast of the 2006 romantic thriller includes Kangana, Emraan Hashmi, and Shiney Ahuja in lead roles.

The music from “Gangster”, which still remains fresh in the memory of music lovers, has been composed by Pritam.

Bobby Singh looked after the camera work of the drama, while Akiv Ali was the head of the editing department.

After a successful debut, Kangana went on to be a part of some exciting projects such as “Woh Lamhe…” (2006), “Life in a… Metro” (2007), “Fashion” (2008), “Raaz: The Mystery Continues” (2009), and “Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai (2010)”.

In 2011, she received a lot of praise for her comic timing in the movie “Tanu Weds Manu” (2011), co-starring R Madhavan.

Kangana went on to bag not one, but two consecutive National Film Awards for ‘Best Actress’ for “Queen” in 2014 and “Tanu Weds Manu Returns” in 2015.

Following this, she went on to lead “Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi” in 2019 and “Panga” in 2020.

She last graced the screen in 2025 with her directorial venture “Emergency”.