Amid months of controversies surrounding Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s period drama ‘Padmaavat’, another upcoming Bollywood movie has landed in trouble.
A right-wing fringe outfit, Sarv Brahmin Mahasabha, has threatened to disrupt the shoot of actor Kangana Ranaut’s biopic on Rani Lakshmibai, titled ‘Manikarnika: The Queen Of Jhansi’, in Rajasthan over ‘indecent portrayal’ of the queen.
Suresh Mishra, state president of Sarv Brahmin Mahasabha (SBM), said, “This movie is violating the history. The movie is on ‘Jhansi ki Rani’. This movie is made to earn crores which we don’t care but not by letting our history violated.”
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“We came to know that in the movie, Jhansi ki Rani indulges in a romantic scene with a foreigner. We have sent mail to the producer on 9th January about the movie. He did not reply which shows that the movie may still have some illicit scenes,” said Mishra.
Mishra added, “We don’t want a controversy like Padmavati in Rajasthan. We appeal to the director of the film to give statement and assurances about the plot of the movie. If he will not reply then we will not let this movie to release.”
He said that hat if the issues were not addressed, the Brahmin Mahasabha will not let the movie be shot in Rajasthan.
The group suspects the filmmakers are basing their film on a historical fiction book that has a mention of a romantic relationship between Rani Lakshmibai and British officer Robert Ellis. It was banned in Uttar Pradesh in February 2008 by the then Mayawati-led government.
‘Manikarnika: The Queen Of Jhansi’, the highly anticipated biographical film is based on the life of the queen of the princely state of Jhansi, Rani Lakshmibai and her war against the British East India Company during the Indian Rebellion of 1857.
The movie is directed by Krish Jagarlamudi and produced by Kamal Jain and Zee Studios.
The film, which also stars Sonu Sood and Ankita Lokhande, is slated to hit the theatres on April 27.