It was a Thursday, August 15th, when actress and politician Kangana Ranaut made a spiritual stop. She visited the famous Shirdi Sai Baba temple. While there, she took a moment to chat with the media. Her thoughts turned to her 2019 film, ‘Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi’. Kangana shared that playing the legendary Queen of Jhansi felt like a second chance at life for her.
She described the role as a powerful rebirth. Kangana believes stepping into the shoes of the Queen of Jhansi helped her understand India’s freedom fight better. It also taught her more about the country itself. She even suggested this role brought her back, especially after her reputation had faced challenges in the film industry. Kangana stated she was “reborn” through this experience.
#WATCH | Shirdi, Maharashtra | BJP MP Kanagana Ranaut says, “I was reborn in a way after playing the role of Jhansi ki Rani. I learned about the freedom struggle and about the country. This role was like a rebirth for me after my image that had been tarnished by the film… pic.twitter.com/hg1WwUsxWK
— ANI (@ANI) August 15, 2024
Kangana feels strongly that there should be more movies about brave women warriors. She finds joy in seeing young children act out the Queen of Jhansi’s character in school plays. She also encouraged everyone visiting Delhi to take their kids to the Prime Minister’s Museum. There’s a light and sound show there featuring stories of different women heroes, and Kangana herself provided the voice-over for it. She urged parents to watch it with their children.
‘Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi’ saw Kangana not only as the main actress but also contributing to its direction. The film had an average run at the box office. Reports from Sacnilk show the movie was made with a budget of about 101 crore rupees. It collected around 98.02 crore rupees within India. Globally, the film earned 142 crore rupees.