Jodhpur/Jaipur: Amid demands from the Sarv Brahmin Mahasabha to halt the shooting of ‘Manikarnika: Queen of Jhansi’, actor Kangana Ranaut reached the state to shoot for the Film.
“Rani Lakshmibai is the daughter of the nation, who sparked the fire for independence among Indians. It’s a matter of great pride for me to play the role of this daughter of India in this movie,” said Kangana, while interacting with the media at the Jodhpur airport. She headed straight to Bikaner to shoot for the film.

Referring to protests against the film from a section of the society, Ranaut termed it quite unfortunate and said that those behind the protests were defaming the great character. “It’s very mean to even think about what these people have been alleging about the film. The movie does not depict any love affair which involves her,” said Ranaut, adding that there was nothing objectionable in the film.

She further called the allegations “absurd” and said the entire crew of the film was hurt by them.

The Sarva Brahmin Mahasabha had demanded the shooting of the film to be stopped and asked authorities to ensure that history was not distorted by the filmmakers before allowing them to continue with filming.
The outfit, which has earlier supported Shree Rajput Karni Sena’s outcry against Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s film ‘Padmaavat’, has also received support in turn from the Rajput outfit in their protest against ‘Manikarnika’.
A day after Mahasabha members met Governor Kalyan Singh seeking his intervention, a delegation of the outfit, led by state president Suresh Mishra, met state home minister Gulab Chand Kataria on Thursday. “I have told them that the art and culture department would look into films which are based on history,” Kataria said.
“‘Manikarnika’ has already been shot in Jaipur and Jhunjhunu. Now, the shooting will go on at Bikaner. We have requested the home minister to immediately stop it. If that does not happen, protests will continue. He assured us of taking measures for the future and issuing certain guidelines for shooting period films,” said Mishra. Source : timesofindia