Kangana was always rude about my version of 'Manikarnika', says original director

Film-maker Krish opened up about why he walked away from the film

After the release of Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi, director Krish – who had originally shot the biopic before leaving midway – has opened up about why he walked away from the film, reported Hindustan Times.

The film-maker also explained how much the film has changed under Kangana’s direction. The actor has apparently majorly re-shot the film. “Kangana has done 20-25 per cent of the first half and 10-15% in the second half. I didn’t shoot a song and I didn’t shoot her entry scene," Krish began, adding that in the second half, she even re-shot some scenes which he had done differently. Krish continued, "The roles of other actors in the film have been truncated."



However, Krish's statement contradicts Kangana's who had previously provided that most of the film has been shot by her. “Only 30% of the film including the action sequences were shot by Krish. Nick, has been retained and I did lot of patchwork on those too. The remaining 70% of film was shot by me,” she had said in a previous interview.

While Krish said the roles of almost all others actors including those of Atul Kulkarni (Tatya Tope) and Prajakta Mali (Kashibai) were cut under Kangana’s stewardship, it was Sonu Sood’s role which became a bone of contention.

The director said he had completed his edit in June and all actors other than Kangana had dubbed for their parts. The Simran actor watched the film and said that she had a few concerns and insisted on changing some things after a few days, stating that co-producer Kamal Jain was not happy with the film either. “I agreed to make some changes. We decided we needed to shoot for an additional six days… And then, she suddenly rose to say that Sonu’s character should be killed at the interval point.”



Krish says Kangana’s insistence on these changes led to arguments. He further stated that he later come to know that re-recordings of parts he had done were taking place and the editor he had worked with was asked to go. In answer to whether Kangana did it out of insecurity, the director instead said “she wanted it all for herself”.

“A few days later, I got a call from Sonu. He wanted to know if I was directing the film further or not. And then I got a call from Kamal Jain that Kangana is getting help from some guy and they will direct the film,” he adds. Sonu soon called him saying that his character was being killed off at interval; he was also informed by the producer that Kangana will take over. After Sonu left the project, Swati Semwal – who played his wife in the film – followed suit," Krish shared.

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He added, "Kangana even told me that Zee Studios hadn’t liked what I had made. It was looking like a Bhojpuri film. I laughed. People know my previous work. We argued but she wanted her own way. I just couldn’t understand.” Krish further revealed that Kangana was rude over the phone and “is rude all the time”.

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