Kangana Ranaut’s historical drama Manikarnika: The Queen Of Jhansi has been leaked online by the piracy group Tamil Rockers. This is the fifth movie to be leaked by the group this month after Uri: The Surgical Strike, The Accidental Prime Minister, Viswasam and Petta.
Jointly directed by Krish and Kangana Ranaut, Manikarnika, which released on January 25, has been performing reasonably well at the box office. According to reports, the movie raked in close to Rs 27 crore domestically in the first two days and more than $ 1 million internationally. But the box office returns are set to take a hit because of the pirated copy being leaked online.
Manikarnika is written by KV Vijayendra Prasad, the writer of Baahubali. It is produced by Zee Studios and Kamal Jain. Suresh Oberoi plays the Maratha empire’s last Peshwa Bajirao II, Danny Denzongpa is Ghulam Ghaus Khan, and Atul Kulkarni, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub and Kulbushan Kharbanda have other roles.
The movie was mired in controversies ever since it was announced. Initially, Sonu Sood’s exit from the project citing Ranaut’s interference in directorial duties made news. Then came reports about the technicians going on a strike alleging non-payment of dues.
According to an India Today report, the Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) had said that the makers of the movie were yet to pay around Rs.1.5 crore to staff and junior artistes working on the film’s sets. Following this, the shoot was halted for a day in December.
Ranaut, in her clarification, said “I’ve been informed about it. There’s nothing as such and it’s just a dispute with a vendor where they don’t think that they should pay as much as the vendor is demanding for.”
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“I said I won’t go for any promo launch and won’t promote the film even if a single labourer’s money gets stuck. Having said that, I don’t think any such issue can happen on a film like this and Zee Studios have a reputation. We will be fair and just at all costs,” she added.
Initially, the movie’s original director had come out alleging that Ranaut said the portions he shot resembled a Bhojpuri film. Ranuat had taken over the mantle from Krish halfway through the shoot.