Manikarnika: Kangana Ranaut Looks Fierce and Bloodied in New Photo

The first poster of Kangana Ranaut's upcoming film Manikarnika.

Actor Kangana Ranaut’s ambitious project Manikarnika — a film on the eventful life of Jhansi’s queen Laxmibai — has been riddled with controversies lately.

First, director Krish Jagarlamudi reportedly left the film midway because of Kangana’s too much interference. Then actor Sonu Sood — who was playing a pivotal role in the period drama — also left the project, citing Kangana’s incompetence as a director.

Now, amid controversies, the 31-year-old actor has shared an image from the film’s sets on her Instagram account.

In what looks like a photo clicked in-between shots, Kangana’s face is fierce and bloodied. She is wearing an aggressive look and a war uniform complete with breastplate and armguards. Her hair is braided, a sword is hanging by her waist and she is carrying a dagger in her right hand. In the picture, she looks onward with aggression as famed action director Nick Powell seems to be instructing her.

A fresh 40-day schedule has reportedly been planned to explore the warrior-queen’s historic life in more detail with the approval of the film’s producer Zee Studios.

But because of delays and reshoots, the film’s budget, which was earlier estimated to be Rs. 60 crore, has now jumped to Rs. 125 crore, Bollywood Hungama earlier reported.

Written by KV Vijayendra Prasad, of Baahubali fame, Manikarnika also has actors Ankita Lokhande and Jisshu Sengupta playing key roles.

Incidentally, Kangana also stirred controversy for hijacking her previous film Simran from its original director Hansal Mehta. She was also accused of stealing the film’s writing credits by its screenplay-writer Apurva Asrani.
Originally slated to release later this year, Manikarnika is now expected to hit the theatres on January 25, 2019.