Kangna Ranaut (Hindi: कंगना रानौत; born 20 March 1987) is an Indian actress who appears mostly in Hindi films. She made her acting debut in 2006 with a leading role in Gangster. She won both a Filmfare and a National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as a troubled model in Fashion (2008).

Ranaut was born to Asha, a school teacher, and Amardeep, a businessman. She has an elder sister, Rangoli and a younger brother, Akshit. She was born in a small town called Bhambla in Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh. Her family lives in Mandi. Her ancestors are Rajputs from Jaipur, a lineage of the royal family. Later, one of her ancestors settled in Himachal.

She did her schooling in Dehradun. After a few months of college, she moved to Delhi to become a model and joined the Elite Modelling Agency in 2003.

Ranaut started her career as a theatre actor in Delhi with Asmita Theatre Group. She trained under eminent theatre director Arvind Gaur. She participated in his theatre workshop at India Habitat Centre and acted in several plays. Her first play with Arvind Gaur was Girish Karnad's Taledanda (Rakt-Kalyan).

Ranaut joined Asha Chandra's course in 2004 to brush herself to face the camera. Ranaut moved to Mumbai to try her luck in movies. In September 2005, Anurag Basu spotted her in a cafe in Mumbai, and offered her the lead role in Gangster.[8] Released in 2006, the film became critically and commercially successful and her performance was especially applauded. This was followed by another acclaimed performance in Woh Lamhe (2006).

Later, Kangna starred in Anurag Basu's Life In A... Metro. Her performance in the film earned her rave reviews. She also starred in Shakalaka Boom Boom (2007) as an aspiring singer. Her next film, Fashion, starring Priyanka Chopra and Mugdha Godse, was released in 2008. The film, portraying the dark side of the fashion world, was a critical success, and Ranaut's portrayal of a supermodel who loses everything to drugs gained her widespread praise, fetching her various awards, including the prestigious Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award and National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Her last successful film was the thriller Raaz – The Mystery Continues with Emraan Hashmi. The movie has been a commercial success and was declared the first reasonable hit of 2009. Her next release was Vaada Raha with Bobby Deol. She starred in Ek Niranjan, a Telugu film directed by Puri Jagannadh, whose previous film Pokiri has been remade in Hindi as Wanted. In 2010, Kangna was seen in a guest appearance opposite Hrithik Roshan in Kites and also starred in a leading role alongside Ajay Devgan in one of the year's most successful outings Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai.

Her first release of 2011 was Tanu Weds Manu opposite R. Madhavan, a romantic comedy that proved to be successful at the box office. She was next seen in the multistarrer Double Dhamaal, the sequel of Dhamaal. Ranaut appeared most recently in Rascals alongside Ajay Devgn and Sanjay Dutt.

- Asian Festival of First Films, Best Actress, Gangster

- Filmfare Best Female Debut Award, Gangster

- Filmfare Fairever Fresh Face of the Year Award, Gangster

- IIFA Best Female Debut Award, Gangster

- Star Screen Award for Most Promising Newcomer – Female, Gangster

- Zee Cine Award for Best Female Debut, Gangster

- Stardust Superstar of Tomorrow - Female, Gangster

- Bollywood Movie Award – Best Female Debut, Gangster

- Stardust Breakthrough Performance Award (Female), Life in a... Metro

- National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress,Fashion

- Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award, Fashion

- IIFA Best Supporting Actress Award, Fashion

- Stardust Best Supporting Actress Award, Fashion

- Apsara Awards Best Supporting Actress, Fashion