Directing Manikarnika - The Queen of Jhansi required lack of indulgence says Kangana Ranaut

Kangana Ranaut, who turned director for her forthcoming film "Manikarnika - The Queen of Jhansi", says directing the film required a lack of indulgence since her legacy belongs to everyone.

Kangana interacted with the media at the trailer launch of 'Manikarnika - The Queen of Jhansi' on Tuesday in Mumbai.

Talking about her directing experience with the film after stepping into director Krish's shoes, Kangana said, "We have been through a lot and seen some vulnerable times together but eventually we have reached here and we are very happy that now we can say that we have left no stone unturned. This is a subject which cannot be indulgent for an individual.

This subject, her legacy belongs to each one of us. So when I was doing this it was voluntarily. Directing is a very personal experience but for this story, it had to be dealt with a certain lack of indulgence and as a collective property."

At the trailer launch, Kangana was accompanied on stage by her co-actors Ankita Lokhande, Mishti and Suresh Oberoi, as well as producer Kamal Jain, writer K.V. Vijayendra Prasad and music composers Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy

When asked about the reason behind original director Krish's departure from the film, producer Kamal Jain said, "The film took longer than we anticipated and Krish had prior commitments, which he is shooting for right now, the NTR biopic. And during that time when we show the edit that we had, we realized we wanted more. We wanted to give our 10 on 10, we didn't want to compromise with Rani Laxmi Bai's story. So we definitely wanted to reshoot a few things and add more."

The 'Queen' star stepped into the film's director after Krish departed from the project due to scheduling conflicts and creative differences.

Asked if Ranaut has learned anything new after playing the role of Rani Laxmibai or whether her perception about the warrior queen has changed after doing this film, she said, her legacy is hard to match up to.

"I haven't learned as such after doing this film because we have heard so many stories about her since our childhood days. My only brief to our costume team or music team was that to match up to her legacy because it is larger than life and nothing is good enough. The kind of stories we have heard about her bravery is absolutely amazing. There is one scene in the film where she jumps off her fort with her child on her back and rides a horse but while doing that scene, we were literally drained...

Nothing which seems good enough for her image. Therefore, I feel even if we can live up to the audience expectations, then it will be good enough."

'Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi', an epic biopic on Rani Laxmi Bai of Jhansi. Kangana Ranaut will be seen playing the titular role of Rani Laxmibai in the film that also stars Ankita Lokhande in a pivotal role.

It is being produced by Zee Studios in association with Kamal Jain & Nishant Pitti the film will release on 25th January 2019.