Actress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of Parliament Kangana Ranaut on 3 September shared a video clip on her Instagram stories, wading into the ongoing generational debate between Gen Z and millennials. The clip, drawn from an episode of the podcast 'The Exchange', features social psychologist Jonathan Haidt and commentator Oli Dugmore discussing the influence of social media, technology, and political experiences on different generations.

What Kangana Said

Sharing the video, Ranaut added a humorous caption that signalled her agreement with Haidt's assessment of millennials. She wrote, 'Even though Gen Z is the flavour of the season, but according to surveys, millennials remain the most intelligent generation ever. Ahem ahem, the host was like keep going.' The playful remark drew attention to the contrast between the cultural dominance of Gen Z and what Haidt describes as the intellectual peak of the millennial cohort.

What Jonathan Haidt Argued

In the clip, Haidt argued that political experiences during a person's formative years — roughly between the ages of 16 and 24 — shape their worldview for life. He described millennials as a 'fascinating generation' and characterised them as the last cohort to come of age before the internet and social media fundamentally transformed young people's social and cognitive environments. 'Your generation is the most intelligent in history,' Haidt said, adding that measured intelligence levels had been rising steadily until the millennial generation, after which the trend reportedly plateaued or reversed.

Context: Kangana's Earlier Gen Z Controversy

The post comes weeks after Ranaut found herself at the centre of a controversy over remarks she made about Gen Z during student protests at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi. She had referred to some of the young protesters as 'Generation Gutter' and alleged they were influenced by Western ideologies — comments that drew sharp criticism across political lines.

Ranaut subsequently issued a clarification, arguing her remarks had been misrepresented. Sharing a video featuring a Congress leader's response, she said, 'A Congress leader said that I have called the youth of the whole country as gutter cchaaps. The youth of the whole country, if you only talk about Gen Z then their population is going to be around 30-35 crores, and the Jantar Mantar, there were only about 10,000 people gathered there, out of which more than half were people like Shabana Azmi, you saw all types of age groups were roaming.'

She further added, 'I specifically talked about the generation that was gathered here. I am giving you an open challenge, tell me a specific quote of mine, in which I have included the whole generation. I cannot be a youth opponent, because I am a youth myself, and not a 55-60 year old youth like Rahul Gandhi.'

The Broader Generational Debate

Ranaut's latest post reflects a wider cultural conversation gaining traction globally — and increasingly in India — about how different generations process information, engage with politics, and relate to technology. Haidt, whose research on social media's impact on adolescent mental health has attracted significant international attention, has argued that the smartphone era reshaped the cognitive and social development of those who grew up entirely within it. Notably, this is not the first time a public figure in India has used Haidt's work to frame domestic generational or political arguments.

Whether Ranaut's post is read as a lighthearted generational quip or a continuation of her commentary on youth politics, it has reignited discussion about the contrasting experiences of millennials and Gen Z in India's rapidly evolving digital and political landscape.