Kangana Ranaut-starrer Manikarnika - The Queen of Jhansi will finally hit the screens on January 25, in time for the Republic Day long weekend next year. The biographical drama about the 19th-century warrior-queen, Laxmibai of Jhansi, has been directed by Krish and produced by Zee Studios. The cast also includes Jisshu Sengupta, Atul Kulkarni, Sonu Sood, Suresh Oberoi and Ankita Lokhande.
Vikas Bahl’s Super 30, starring Hrithik Roshan, is also scheduled to be released on that weekend, according to reports.
Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi was earlier supposed to open April 27 this year. It was in the eye of the storm last May when filmmaker Ketan Mehta claimed that it was his idea to make a biographical film on the queen of Jhansi, which Ranaut stole and started working on with another producer. Originally titled Rani of Jhansi – The Warrior Queen, Mehta’s film was reportedly meant to have an English version too.
Manikarnika has been written by Baahubali writer KV Vijayendra Prasad. In an interview to Scroll.in in November, Prasad said he jumped on the chance to adapt Rani Laxmibai’s story for the screen. “Nearly 50 years back, when I was reading about her, I found out that her original name was Manikarnika, which was changed after marriage,” Prasad said. “I even named my daughter after her because I was so fascinated by the character. When a chance to write a story on her came to me, I couldn’t help myself.”
Krish has made several Telugu films including Gamyam (2008) and Kanche (2015). His first Hindi film was Gabbar Is Back (2015). Earlier this year, Krish also starred in Mahanati, the Tamil-Telugu biopic on Southern star Savitri, as the legendary filmmaker KV Reddy.
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