Manikarnika: Kangana Ranaut takes 'director' credit for film, clashes with Krish?

The teaser of Kangana Ranaut's new film Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi will be released on August 30, but there is another buzz about the movie that is doing the rounds. All hell broke loose after an image of a clapboard from Manikarnika went viral on Twitter because it mentioned Kangana Ranaut as the director of the film.

It was revealed recently that Kangana Ranaut will indeed be directing parts of Manikarnika, as her director Krish Jagarlamudi decided to concentrate on his new film, the Telugu biopic on NTR.

But seeing the Manikarnika clapboard with Kangana Ranaut's name against 'director' sent netizens in a tizzy wondering if there was a clash between director Krish and Kangana. The actress had had a similar controversy when she had shared writing credits with Apurva Asrani for her film Simran, directed by Hansal Mehta.

Kangana Ranaut's team has denied any clash with Krish, writing on Instagram, "Krish Jagarlamudi is the director of #Manikarnika and will remain so. #Kangana Ranaut has stepped in to shoot just the patchwork on his behalf while he fulfils his commitments in another movie, to make sure that #Manikarnika releases on 25th Jan 2019. The clapboard is merely to avoid on set confusion."

Kangana Ranaut had clarified earlier to Mumbai Mirror about a tiff with Krish, saying, "Not true, we speak every day. Krish has another release on January 11 and could give dates only after that. After unveiling the first poster on August 15, we had the choice of coming on Republic Day or Independence Day, 2019. We decided to push for the former. The writers want certain transitional scenes shot before the release, I've assured the studio I won't leave Manikarnika even if it means rescheduling dates and sacrificing personal time."

That this controversy arose just ahead of the teaser release of Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi is another story.

Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi is Kangana Ranaut's production where she plays the Rani of Jhansi also known as Manikarnika. The film releases on January 25, 2019, clashing with Hrithik Roshan's Super 30 and Emraan Hashmi's Cheat India, among other films.