Kangana slams Sonu Sood's walkout from 'Manikarnika', says he opposed female director

Sonu, on the other hand, blames Kangana's unprofessional attitude

Bollywood actor Sonu Sood has walked out of Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi owing to his professional commitment towards Simmba. But Kangana Ranaut, the leading lady of the film, has claimed that he left the movie as he "refused to work under a woman director", reported The Indian Express.

With the actual director of the project, Krish being busy with his other film, Kangana has stepped in to direct the patchwork of Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi, which tells the story of Rani Laxmibai.

PHOTO: INDIA.COM

Sonu, who plays a grey character in Rohit Shetty's Simmba, has grown a beard as part of his looks and is busy shooting the film. But the actor was supposed to have been clean shaven like a warrior in Manikarnika.

It was reported that the makers of Manikarnika the Kangana starrer will tweak the script of the historical biopic because of his new looks for the film Simmba. But the plan didn't work.

"Kangana is a dear friend and she will always remain one but this constant playing the woman card, the victim card and making this entire issue about male chauvinism is ridiculous," Sonu said in a statement.

"The gender of the director is not the issue. Competence is. Let's not confuse the two. I have worked with Farah Khan who is a competent woman director and Farah and I had a great professional equation and we are still best of friends. That's all I would like to say," he added.

Sheetal Talwar files a case of fraud against actor Sonu Sood. PHOTO: AFP

Kangana has claimed that Sonu "didn't even give us tentative dates to match combinations with other actors".

"He refused to meet me. He refused to work under a woman director. Even though the team suggested that they have full faith in me, it seems, Sonu had neither dates nor faith," Kangana said.

The Queen actor also said that Sonu decided to incorporate a few wrestling scenes which were never there in the script.

"He wanted the producers to retain the wrestling portions as he made the body for it for four months. How did I know that is happening behind my back? When writers saw the film, they said they don't want it," she said.

PHOTO: PINKVILLA

According to a source close to Sonu, a major reason behind Sonu's exit from the film is Kangana's unprofessional attitude and false claims.

"Sonu has never had any problems with anyone in his almost two decade-long career. Sonu has previously worked with the female film-maker, Farah Khan. Also, Kangana claims that Sonu had shot the wrestling scene behind her back, but surprisingly the director has to be present on the set to shoot a film and not just the actor," added the source.

Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi is slated to release on January 25 next year.

The producer of the film, Kamal Jain said, "Our team is totally focused and dedicated to finish the patchwork shoot to complete the film on time as our release date of January 25 is set in stone. The post-production and VFX is going on in full swing."

Kamal also expressed his wish to work with Sonu again.

"With a heavy heart, we have mutually decided to part ways due to his date unavailability. He is a thorough professional. I would love to work with him again," he said.

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