'What was Mahabharat?': Kangana Ranaut on Saif Ali Khan's 'no concept of India before British' statement

Saif Ali Khan recently caught himself in a controversy for his statement on 'existence of India'. He was asked about politics getting altered in Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior, to which the actor told Anupama Chopra, "I don’t think there was a concept of India till perhaps the British gave it one. I don’t think there is any constructive point in arguing about loudly, provided you know why you’re doing it."

During a recent interaction with Zee News, when Kangana was asked about Saif's statement, she stated, "This is not true. If there was no Bharat then what was Mahabharat? That 5,000-year-old text that was written, what was it? What did Ved Vyas write? Some people have just created these narratives that suit them. Sri Krishna was in Mahabharat. So there was a Bharat, that’s why it was mahaan (great). All the kings of India came together to fight that war. So it’s natural..."

Kangana further said, "You see even Europe has these small nations. But these had a collective identity, that’s why Sri Krishna went to all these places with Pandavas and the Kauravas, to ask them who will be a part of the war."

While Saif had also told Anupama, "For some reason, I didn’t take a stand… maybe next time I would. I was very excited to play the role because it’s a delicious role. But when people say this is history; I don’t think this is history. I am quite aware of what the history was."