Manikarnika has been in the news for director Krish Jagarlamudi and Kangana Ranaut creative differences on the film sets. It was reported that Kangana humiliated Krish and pushed him out of the project and then took over the director's seat. And now Krish has finally exposed Kangana and revealed what went behind the scenes before he decided to leave the project and shifted his focus to direct the much-talked-about NTR biopic.
The film shares the director credits with Kangana where Krish is referred by his full name Radha Krishna Jagarlamudi which he doesn't use as a professional credit and said that his identity has been tampered with. He revealed that Kangana re-shot almost 20-25 per cent portions of the first half and 10-15 per cent of the second half of Manikarnika that he had shot in a different way. And said that he got paid only 30 per cent of his fee.
"But it's okay now. The film is looking brilliant. I am happy that she didn't spoil it much," Krish told Spotboye in an interview.
He further revealed that the film didn't turn out to be what exactly he had envisioned. "There's not much difference (pause). But (pauses again), Rani Laxmibai's counterparts are not strong. They haven't come out very well," he said adding that Atul Kulkarni's Tatya Tope and Prajakta Mali's Kashibai's role have been deleted to a large extent inclusing Suresh Oberoi and Kulbhushan Kharbanda's role as well.
Talking about the climax, Krish said that 4-5 shots have been added to what he had shot earlier.
But from where did the creative differences between him and Kangana begin?
Krish said, "I had finished my entire edit in June. I had completed all the reels and even given them for sound recording. Everybody even dubbed but not Kangana. She was shooting for Mental in London.
"She returned, saw the film and said that she liked it. She however added that she had few small concerns. After few days, she said that iska jyaada hai, uska jyaada hai, this girl is overpowering, that girl is overpowering. Then she came up with yeh change karna hai, woh change karna hai. She also said that Kamal Jain (producer) hadn't liked the film.
"I agreed to make some changes. We decided we needed to shoot for additional 6 days. Kangana was not required in that extra time. I discussed with Prasoon Joshi and few others how we will go about it. And then, she suddenly rose to say that Sonu's character should be killed at the interval point. This was completely against history. Sonu was playing an important antagonist, he had a beautiful arc in the story and we had shot with him beautifully for 35 days, Sadashiv (Sonu's character) would have died in the film but just little before Laxmibai's death.
"She said Sonu is not required in the second half. But I put my foot down. Big arguments followed. Kamal Jain took Kangana's side."
However, Krish said that Ankita Lokhande's role was increased when Kangana took over him.
Talking about the what went between Kamal Jain, Kairos Kontent and Zee Studios, Krish revealed, "I didn't interact with Zee Studios during this period. I am not sure about this, but I think Kangana told me that Zee had asked her to ahead with what she wanted. I came away to Hyderabad to start with my next, the NTR biopic.
Then, I got a call that they were doing re-recordings on the film that I had made. Not over yet, the editor was changed. The editor who had worked with me was asked to leave.
A few days later, I got a call from Sonu. He wanted to know if I was directing the film further or not. And then I got a call from Kamal Jain that Kangana is getting help from some guy and they will direct the film.
I came to Mumbai to meet Kamal Jain. Kangana was present at the meeting. She said the changes were small and she would manage, if I was busy.
I came back to Hyderabad and got a call from Sonu that they were terminating his character at the interval. I told them that I won't direct that change in Sonu's role. Kamal Jain replied that Kangana will direct. Sonu told me that he wasn't going ahead if I was not taking any further part..."
When Krish was asked if Kangana was insecure, he said, "No insecurity, it was just that she wanted everything to herself" adding that "Kangana is very rude all the time."
Speaking about Kamal Jain being obedient to Kangana's approach, Krish said, "It happens. You get influenced if someone says yeh achcha nahin hai, yeh bhi achcha nahin hai if you are seeing the film without its sound effects.
Kangana even told me that Zee Studios hadn't liked what I had made. It was looking like a Bhojpuri film. I laughed. People know my previous work. We argued but she wanted her own way. I just couldn't understand."
Talking about Sonu's exit, Krish revealed, "I felt very bad when I read in the papers Kangana saying that 'Sonu couldn't take orders from a female director'. That was annoying and bad. It never happened. What she said was untrue. I don't blame Sonu for quitting. His run time was 100 minutes and it was being chopped to 60 minutes. Who will agree? Nobody would.
When I spoke to them about the distortion of my name in the teaser, Kangana told me 'You didn't support me in the Sonu Sood episode. Aapko abhi zaroorat hai toh aaye ho." She told me I have anger management issues (laughs), but it was she who was shouting at me.
And now after seeing the film, I see my name again distorted and now in a separate slide!"
