Before Manikarnika teaser, all the stunning photos from Kangana Ranaut’s Laxmibai biopic

Kangana Ranaut is all set to return to the silver screen in and as Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi. The film’s teaser is scheduled to be out on October 2 on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti. The actor plays Rani Laxmibai who laid down her life for the country while fighting the British East India Company during the first war of independence in 1857. The impressive looks from the film were received with positive response and have made the cine lovers curious for the film that also stars Ankita Lokhande as Rani Laxmibai’s accomplice Jhalkaribai, Atul Kulkarni as Tatya Tope, Suresh Oberoi as Peshwa Bajirao and Jisshu Sengupta as Gangadhar Rao.

Kangana’s glimpses from the film are purely royal and present her as a picture of elegance, bravery and grace as she plays a queen on screen in her first historical project. The actress had suffered a deep cut on her forehead while shooting a sword-fighting scene with co-actor Nihar Pandya. This left her in a bloodied state and she returned from the hospital with 15 stitches. Kangana decided to not get it fixed cosmetically and decided to flaunt it as a genuine bravery mark. She had also suffered a ligament tear while jumping off a 40 feet wall with her adopted child in the film tied to her back.

The film has been widely shot at the Mehrangarh Fort in Jodhpur and Jaipur besides a few more locations. The actress learnt sword-fighting and horse riding for the film.

The film has also been plagued by several controversies. While Kangana took over the project as a director, co-actor Sonu Sood - who was cast as Maratha army commander-in chief Sadhashivrao Bhau — quit the film amid contradictory statements made by the two parties. The role is now being played by Zeeshan Ayyub. As per the latest reports, Swati Semwal who was supposed to play his wife in the film, has also quit the project.

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