Ketan Mehta SLAMS Kangana Ranaut's Manikarnika As 'Jingoistic' And 'Pathetic' - CLAIMS His Version Of Rani Lakshmibai Film Was More Balanced! (Details Inside)
'The Rani Lakshmibai' project by director Ketan Mehta, which was first announced in 2016 with Kangana Ranaut, took a dramatic turn when Kangana herself produced and acted in the competing film 'Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi.' 'Jhansi Ki Rani: The Warrior Queen,' Mehta's version, was left behind as Kangana worked on her own project with director Krish and producer Kamal Jain. Mehta was upset by how things turned out, so he sued Kangana and the producer, saying they had broken his trust.
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In a recent interview Mehta brought the issue back up by calling Kangana's picture "jingoistic" and saying it was bad. Mehta says that the story went through a lot of changes that were very different from his original idea, which centred on how much the British Generals wanted to catch Rani Lakshmibai. He said that his version was more fair, and he pointed out how sad it was that 'Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi' had become a patriot and jingoistic story. Mehta spent years doing study and had big plans for a production, so the alleged breach of trust hurt him even more. He said he was disappointed and called the end result "pathetic."
In 2018, Mehta said that Kangana had confirmed that she would work on his project and that his team had given her all the materials. But Kangana's movie was full of problems, and after she and Krish had a fight, she took over as the director. Krish didn't agree with Kangana's claim that she had directed a lot of the movie. Kangana told everyone outside the Mumbai airport that she was the film's director, leaving no room for change.
There were also changes to the cast of 'Manikarnika' while it was being made. Sonu Sood was in the movie at first, but he left halfway through. Kangana said that Sonu wouldn't work for a woman in charge, which Sonu strongly rejected. Sonu explained that he couldn't do the reshoots that the movie needed because of his schedule.
The story of Mehta, Kangana, and the productions that went against each other shows how complicated and hard the film business can be. The different ideas about how to tell Rani Lakshmibai's story, accusations of betrayal, and changes in the cast and team all led to two different films that show different parts of her story.
