MUMBAI: Actor Kangana Ranaut landed here on Wednesday from Himachal Pradesh, angry and caustic as she took on the Shiv Sena, called her home Ram mandir, referred to Bollywood' and described herself as the daughter of Chhatrapati Shivaji.
The Queen actor, who has been given Y-plus category security from the Centre, was met with black flags and slogans from protesting Shiv Sena workers.
But there was support too from workers of the RPI (A) and Karni Sena, who also gathered at the airport.
Addressing Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray, Ranaut posted a video message saying his "ego will be destroyed" the way her Bandra home was demolished.
The actor said she is working on a project on Ayodhya but now understands the pain of Kashmir Pandits and will also make a movie on their plight.
Ranaut, known for her provocative statements, again compared Mumbai with Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK) after the Shiv Sena-led BMC demolished "illegal alterations" at her Bandra bungalow.
"Uddhav Thackeray, 'tujhe kya lagta hai' (what do you think)?. You think you have taken a huge revenge by destroying my house in collusion with the movie mafia. Today my house is destroyed, tomorrow it will be your ego. The wheels of time keep changing, she said in a video message in Hindi, referring to the chief minister in the informal tu' rather than the more respectful aap'."
Uddhav Thackeray, this cruelty and terrorism, it is good that it happened to me because there is some meaning to it," she said in the video.
In a series of posts earlier in the day, Ranaut said there has been no "illegal construction" in her house.
"Also government has banned any demolitions in COVID till September 30, Bollywood watches now this is what Fascism looks like #DeathOfDemocracy #KanganaRanaut," the actor tweeted.
In another post, she wrote, "I am never wrong and my enemies prove again and again this is why my Mumbai is POK now #deathofdemocracy".
This is the second time she has referred to Mumbai as PoK, a statement that sparked the spat with the Shiv Sena.
On Wednesday, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut told India Today, I have never threatened Kangana Ranaut, I only expressed my anger at Mumbai being likened to POK, am not responsible for what action BMC takes matter is over for me, Kangana is welcome to live in Mumbai.
Ranaut also shared few photographs of BMC officials at her house, with the captions "Pakistan #deathofdemocracy" and "Babur and his army #deathofdemocracy".
The actor posted past photos from the building, calling it her own "Ram Mandir".
"Today Babur has come there and history will repeat itself. Ram temple will be broken again but remember Babar, this temple will be built again. Jai Shri Ram," she tweeted.
Calling herself the daughter of Chhatrapati Shivaji, Ranaut claimed that she was fighting for her "honour and dignity".
"I have lived the courage, valour and sacrifice of Rani Laxmibai through my film. The sad thing is that I am being prevented from coming to my own Maharashtra. But I will follow the path of Rani Laxmibai. I will not get scared or bow down to anyone. I will continue to raise my voice against wrong, Jai Maharashtra, Jai Shivaji," she said in another post.
Earlier in the day, a BMC team reached the bungalow at Pali Hill in Bandra with bulldozers and excavators and demolished alterations made sans the civic body's approval.
The Bombay High Court, however, stayed the demolition process initiated by the BMC and sought to know why the city civic body entered the property when the owner was not present.
The trouble between the ruling Shiv Sena and Kangana started after the actor said that she feared Mumbai Police more than the "movie mafia" after tne death of Sushant Singh Rajput and likened the Maharashtra capital to Pakistan occupied Kashmir.
Reacting strongly to her comment, Raut purportedly said, "We kindly request her not to come to Mumbai. This is nothing but an insult to Mumbai Police."
Hitting back, Ranaut had tweeted last week, "Why is Mumbai feeling like Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir?" On her arrival here on Wednesday, she was taken to her residence in suburban Khar amid tight security, a police official said.
Kangana, 33, who flew from Chandigarh by a scheduled commercial flight, landed at Mumbai around 2.30 pm.
"She was escorted out of the airport by personnel of Central security forces and Mumbai police and was provided security right from the tarmac," the official said.
Police were deployed outside her Khar residence, near which some Sena workers gathered, even before she reached there.
Around 15 persons, including some women, were detained on Wednesday for allegedly holding a protest against the demolition, a police official said.
The protesters gathered outside Ranaut's bungalow in the Pali Hill area in the afternoon to show solidarity with the actor after the BMC demolished alleged illegal alterations at her property.
In Himachal Pradesh Assembly, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur condemned the demolition, saying she "is a daughter" of the state and she should get a "proper atmosphere" to work in her field.
The BMC came in for flak for the demolition, with some critics saying she was targeted while other defaulters were spared.
Kangana said the civic body should focus on the shoddy state of roads instead of targeting her bungalow.
"BMC, these are Mumbai road and all you are concerned about is DEMOLITION of an actress house who is exposing mafia. KUDOS to you!! #DeathOfDemocracy," Kangana tweeted.
She also posted a photo of a Mumbai road riddled with several potholes.
NCP chief Sharad Pawar said undue importance is being attached to Kangana's statements, adding people are not taking her remarks seriously.
Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Assembly Devendra Fadnavis said the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj has not seen such a "timid and anti-democracy" government till now, and accused the state government of stifling voices of those holding the other view.
Kangana's lawyer Rizwan Siddiqui claimed the BMC was lying about illegal construction at the bungalow.
"BMC said they gave stop-work notice. But such notice is given when the construction process is underway. There is no construction going on at the place. It was over about one-and-a-half years ago," he said.