Kangana Ranaut accuses 'mafia' of creating Manikarnika controversy, 'making fun of mechanical horse'

Actor Kangana Ranaut, on the second anniversary of Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi, has said that the film was roped into a controversy only after it became a commercial success. Kangana has been accused of hijacking directing duties on the historical epic, by original director Krish, who said that he was let go.

In an interview, Kangana accused the movie 'mafia' of being jealous of the film's success, and launching an effort to spread negative stories about her and the movie.

She told The Times of India, "There was no controversy even when I took as a director. I took over sometime in June-July 2018, there was no controversy. There were several articles when the producer clarified that the director is busy with another film. No controversy at all. It’s only when the film became a huge success, it had a weekend, even big heroes don’t have sometimes of Rs. 45 cr. Then on a Monday, the director started to go all out and with him, many people joined in."

Kangana said that at the time, she vowed to take on powerful members of the industry. She said that after the big opening weekend, "The mafia joined in, they started making fun of the mechanical horse. The film was breaking records and it was breaking many people also. So that of course I spoke at length at many events. That was the day I promised everyone that now I will take their case and people must not have taken it seriously and they must have laughed at it. But then I took their case also and that is also history and it will be a prominent part of pop culture."

Also read: Manikarnika co-director Krish challenges Kangana Ranaut ‘one last time’, says ‘I feared I’ll remain unknown to the world’

Kangana was referring to a behind-the-scenes video that showed her riding a mechanical horse on the sets of the film. Several detractors used the clip to mock her, and continue to do so to this day.

In a 2019 interview to SpotboyE, Krish had contested Kangana’s claim that she had shot 70% of the film. “Kangana has done 20-25% of the first half and 10-15% in the second half. I didn’t shoot a song and I didn’t shoot her entry scene. In the second half, she has even re-shot some scenes which I had done in a different way,” he’d said.

Manikarnika's final box office collections remain unconfirmed. According to Bollywood Hungama, it made ₹92 crore in India and another ₹3.4 crore overseas.

Follow @htshowbiz for more