History is a very tricky subject to attempt right now. If Sanjay Leela Bhansali struggled for months with his magnum opus Padmaavat, over allegations of distortion of historical facts, now it could well be the turn of the next historical on the block to face a similar fate…
Kangana Ranaut’s Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi, based on the life of Queen Laxmibai, is also drawing raised eyebrows and probing questions. The film is already drawing protests. A press conference in Jaipur, saw Suresh Mishra, the president of the Sarva Brahman Mahasabha (SBM) declaring, “We learnt about it from our friends and acquaintances in various parts of Rajasthan where some scenes of the film are being shot. The film is based on a foreigner’s book and tries to dampen the queen’s reputation.”
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The SBM believes that Manikarnika depicts a love story between Queen Laxmibai and a British man. “Nobody can even imagine that Maharani Laxmi Bai could have an affair. She died fighting the British at a young age. If a film is to be made on her life, it should be a biopic,” said Mishra.
The SBM has urged the Rajasthan government to seek an affidavit from the film’s producers that history has not been distorted. One seriously hopes the film does not face the same fate Padmaavat did in the violent run-up to its release.
Earlier this year, it had made news that an Indo-British film, Swords And Sceptres (based on Rani Laxmibai) was expected to hit the screens before Kangana's Manikarnika: The Queen Of Jhansi. The shooting of Swords And Sceptres has already wrapped and the film is currently in post-production. The makers were said to be vying for a March 2018 release. A source from the unit of Swords And Sceptres had revealed, “The film's war sequences are mounted on a large scale and need a fair amount of visual effects work. The VFX team has been given a deadline of February end. If they meet the deadline, the movie will release before Kangana's biopic.”
While Manikarnika had been scheduled for an April 2018 release, it has since been postponed to the end of the year. The situation does look a tad dicey right now…
