On Bal Thackeray’s birth anniversary, team Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi, headlined by Kangana Ranaut, paid tribute to the Shiv Sena supremo on January 23. In a video that has been made available online, Kangana, dressed in an orange suit, paid tribute to Bal Thackeray as she said that India will forever remember the great leader. Bal Thackeray, who died in 2012, would have been 93 today.
Watch:
https://twitter.com/PeepingMoon/status/1087971242290933760
Meanwhile, a biopic on Bal Thackeray, starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui as the Shiv Sena supremo, is all set to release on January 25. Thackeray The Film, in fact, will clash with Kangana’s Manikarnika at the box office on the same day.
[caption id="attachment_199327" align="aligncenter" width="647"] Kangana in a still from Manikarnika[/caption]
Thackeray The Film narrates Bal Thackeray’s journey and his political career as he established Shiv Sena – a Hindu right-wing Marathi ethnocentric party. Bal Thackeray was immensely popular amongst his followers, particularly in Maharashtra as he espoused the rights of the Marathas in his state. Directed by Abhijit Panse, Thackeray co-stars Amrita Rao.
[caption id="attachment_199243" align="alignnone" width="647"] Nawazuddin Siddiqui in a still from Thackeray[/caption]
Manikarnika, on the other hand, casts Kangana as Rani Laxmibai while the film painstakingly depicts the journey of India’s fierce warrior queen.