Manikarnika: The Queen Of Jhansi, for which actress Kangana Ranaut and Krish contested for primary director's credit (more on that later), has reportedly crossed the Rs 100-crore mark at the box office. Speaking to mid-day about the film's success, Kangana said that if the movie had failed, "people would have abandoned it." "These people would have disowned the film if it was bad. These are the people who would have abandoned it," she was quoted as saying. Kangana added: "(But) this is a good fight, where the cast and crew are bickering over who owns the movie more. We were able to make a clean film. No one has blamed me for distorting history. Personally, there is no controversy of great magnitude here. I don't see any negativity attached to it outside the industry. I am satisfied with the audience's response."
When Manikarnika was in the work-in-progress stage, Kangana Ranaut filled in for director Krish to complete the film's patchwork but soon it was reported that she reshot some portions of Manikarnika too. In the film, Kangana Ranaut has been credited as the primary director. After the film released, Krish opposed to it saying more than 70 per cent of his work was retained in the final cut. However, Kangana's sister Rangoli Chandel said that the actress had directed a major portion of the film and if Krish can prove otherwise, Kangana will retract and apologise.
Meanwhile, Manikarnika released a day before Republic Day and two weeks after Aditya Dhar-directed Uri: The Surgical Strike, starring Vicky Kaushal. Uri's box office success story is unparalleled and it threatened Manikarnika's monopoly at the ticket window. "None of us expected the competition we got from Uri. It was another patriotic film that shared the same theme - fighting back for the nation. It was in its third week but it still put up quite a tough fight," Kangana told mid-day.
Manikarnia: The Queen Of Jhansi is based on the life of Rani Laxmi Bai, who led Jhansi's battalion in the Indian Rebellion of 1857 against the East India Company. The film also features Ankita Lokhande, Jisshu Sengupta and Atul Kulkarni.
