Manikarnika trailer begins by showing that Jhansi is under threat from the British, and they need an heir to protect their land. Kangana Ranaut as Manikarnika is introduced to serve this purpose. She’s a woman who can hunt and is well versed in sword fight. She can show us how women fight, she says. Soon, she gets married to Gangadhar Rao and is called Rani Laxmi Bai.
In the trailer, we see a glimpse of her holding a child and crying, we don’t know more about her losing her first child, and adopting Gangadhar’s cousin’s son. But they’re under attack now, so she must fight back. Her anger and frustration with the British as enemy, and with how unfair the battle is, is evident. She slays one British officer after the other.
The filmmakers make their intentions clear at the start by comparing the British to the hawks on the lookout for the kingdom of Jhansi. Cashing in on the popular rhetoric prevalent in the country today, every second line in the trailer is about the love and duty towards one’s country. It culminates in Kangana Ranaut’s titular character ripping away the British flag and then, a soldier’s head.
What lies in between is the arc of Ranaut’s character which shows her transformation from Manikarnika to Rani Laxmi Bai. Attention has been paid to lend an air of authenticity to this transformation. Even as a girl, Manikarnika not only plays with her friends but is proficient in horse riding and archery and can hunt down tigers.
She displays signs of valour in her youth when she says she will show ‘how girls dance’ only to proceed with a lesson in swordfight. It is this valour that keeps her going despite losing her husband and subsequently her kingdom. The same valour helps her in waging a war against the British who forced her to flee at midnight with her son.
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But throughout, she says the battle is for her land, to serve her people. Even though it’s a losing battle, she must fight for future generations, because that’s her purpose. We can’t help but wonder if the real Laxmi Bai would’ve said these things this easily. If she would’ve been so sorted and clear about going to a losing war as a service, to fulfill Chatrapati Sivaji’s dream of swarajya, for patriotism. Even for a moment, wouldn’t she have looked at this as the only way out for herself and her child?
Manikarnika: The Queen Of Jhansi, is Kangana Ranaut’s first film as a director. It is co-directed by Radha Krishna Jagarlamudi. The film is Krish’s second Hindi directorial after the 2015 film Gabbar is Back. He has directed the Telugu films Gamyam (2008), Vedam (2010), and Gautamiputra Satakarni (2017). He’s currently working on a biopic of NTR.
Manikarnika is written by KV Vijayendra Prasad, the writer of Bahubali. 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 film releases on January 25.
Watch the trailer here:
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