So there is another historical film in the making. Director Krish, who has given his impression in period dramas like ‘Kanche’, ‘GautamiputraSatakarni’, is helming the life story of Jhansi’s warrior queen, Lakshmi Bai on her original name ‘Manikarnika’. Bollywood’s fire cracker, KanganaRanaut is destined to play the leading role of Jhansi Lakshmi Bai. Also there is more power to this film, veteran writer Vijayendra Prasad who is basking in the glory of his recent blockbuster ‘Bahubali’ has teamed up with lyricist Prasoon Joshi to provide the story and screenplay for this film. “This story has a lot of energy. I’m blessed that I’m attached to this film. I never thought that I’d ever get the opportunity to work with Vijendraji who has written a film like Baahubali. Also, I want to say that this film would not have been possible without KanganaRanaut. I don’t think any other actress has that fire and determination like Kangana to play this character,” Joshi said.
Laxmibai, whose maiden name was Manikarnika, was born in Varanasi in 1828 to a Brahmin family. This is why the makers decided to unveil the film’s first official poster ‘Manikarnika – The Queen of Jhansi’at DashashwamedhGhat in Varanasi on Thursday. Kangana, who looked every inch the fiery queen on the film’s 20-feet tall poster, hoped that people would love ‘Manikarnika’ the way they have appreciated her previous roles. This story would rotate around the life of the queen and the war of 1857 against British, for which Kangana is learning horse riding and getting in sync with the action sequences.
“I’m so blessed to be here. With the blessings of Lord Shiva, we have launched it here. After coming on board for this project, I feel like I’ve achieved something very big in my life. I feel that Rani of Jhansi is very relatable for women like us. Life without respect was equivalent to death for her. I think that is something I completely identified with,” said Kangana, who also participated in the evening ‘Ganga aarti’, after the launch. Also it is being said that, this would be her last film as an actress as she is keen on directing a film. Kangana confirmed that saying, “Krish would be my last director. I plan to grow to the next level in film making, and I’m very much keen on handling the megaphone next!”
The film is slated to release on 17th of April, 2018 which would be made in Hindi, Telugu and Tamil. The movie is being produced by Kamal Jain, who is ready to spend a grand to get the quality of the movie right. The music is being composed by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy. The cast and crew details will be revealed soon.
