Kangana Ranaut had to work under “extreme situations” for her upcoming film Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi, especially after she stepped into the first director Krish's shoes after he departed the project due to what has been blamed on scheduling conflicts and creative differences. During her interview with a leading daily, Kangana spoke at length about turning co-director for her ambitious project and said that it was all about “manic passion and devotion”.
The 31-year-old actress plays the titular role in the film and said that she stepped in as the director of Manikarnika last June itself. “October is when everyone got to know, I came on board as director in June. For two-three months we reconceived the entire film, incorporated six-seven songs, then the reshoot began. I was running two units simultaneously, one with my DoP, Kiran Deohans, and a parallel unit with Sachin Krishn and Nick Powell. Even the VFX team finished off six months work in two and the music team didn't get more than two hours sleep. It was all about manic passion, devotion. It might have killed me, but I was used to working in extreme situations,” Kangana told the daily.
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Kangana in a still from Manikarnika[/caption]
Moreover, Kangana also added that she has never worked “so selflessly” for a film as much as she did for Manikarnika. Neither could she begin work on Anurag Basu’s film and could only spare ten days for Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari’s Panga. But, she couldn’t “desert a sinking ship either”, Kangana said, adding that people also misunderstood her motives in the process.
“I know it's hard to understand that someone wants to make a movie not for money, for fans or vanity. I have never worked so selflessly. Anurag's (Basu) film (Imali) was to start in November, but from May to January, I've done only 10 days work for Ashwiny's (Iyer Tiwari) Panga to pay my instalments. During Diwali I let go of several campaigns, financially things have gone for a toss but there was no question of asking for extra money in a project that had already gone over-budget. And I couldn't desert a sinking ship either. People try to dissect my motives, compartmentalise me, wrap their heads around me. And in doing so, they only end up with pancreas and kidneys. It would be better if they wrapped their hearts around me, they might have found the person,” Kangana added.
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Kangana Ranaut[/caption]
Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi co-stars Ankita Lokhande, Atul Kulkarni, Vaibhav Tatwawaadi, Danny Denzongappa, Suresh Oberoi and Jisshu Sengupta in pivotal roles.
Produced by Zee Studios in association with Kamal Jain and Nishant Pitti, Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi will release on January 25.
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