Manikarnika row: Kangana Ranaut's sister claims actress 'fought' to get Krish directorial credit

Following director Krish's interview, where he opened up about the controversies surrounding the directorial credit of Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi, Kangana Ranaut's sister Rangoli posted screenshots of Kangana's conversation with scriptwriter Vijendra Prasad, claiming Kangana fought with the makers to give Krish directorial credits.

Kangana Ranaut in a still from Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi

Rangoli also alleged that while Krish was called to watch the final cut, but he never made it. Rangoli also posted a screenshot from Kangana's conversation with Krish. She also accused Krish of not letting his DoP work with the team and not letting assistant directors who had worked with him on the film, be a part of the reshoot that was helmed by Kangana.

Meanwhile, Mishti Chakrobarty expressed her disappointment over her character's treatment in the Kangana Raut-starrer. In an interview with Bollywood Hungama, Mishti, who played Kashibai in the period drama, said that Kamal Jain had convinced her to take up the role as it would get her more opportunities. She also admitted to have taken up the role to work with Krish.

Expressing her disappointment, she said that the final product was not what she was expecting. “To glorify yourself, you don’t need to put others down. If you are great, you will stand out in the crowd. If you don’t have the confidence, you will want it all for yourself,” she told the publication. She further said a number of scenes that she shot, which included fighting, horse-riding as well as a few emotional sequences, had been razed off from the final film.

Mishti also spoke to CineBlitz where she said that while Kangana has done absolute justice to her own character, Mishti's character has been reduced to a caricature. "I am happy if I were to see it from a bigger perspective, but on a selfish perspective, as an artiste I think my character has turned into a caricature.” she said.

Krish, in his interaction with Bollywood Hungama, had stated that Kangana had shot only 20-25 percent of the first half of Manikarnika, and a few scenes of the climax. Mishti bolstered Krish's claim and said that Kangana modified the movie in the edit.

Shankar Mahadevan and Prasoon Joshi, on the other hand, defended Kangana and said that it was because of Kangana that Manikarnika saw the light of day. Bombay Times quotes the music composer as saying, "Had Kangana not taken over and completed the film, it wouldn’t have made it to the theatres. She took the onus, stepped forward, took responsibility of every department and completed the film." Shankar also said that Krish should not be having a problem as he is being credited as the co-director. Prasoon Joshi, who is film’s dialogue writer and lyricist, also tweeted on Monday that Ranaut had “elevated the film to another level” and praised her work as an actor as well as director.

Earlier, Apurva Asrani, Pooja Bhatt and Bejoy Nambiar came out is support of Krish, calling out Kangana for stealing Krish's credit.