After Padmaavat, Manikarnika to face ire? Brahmin outfit asks Rajasthan govt to stop filming of Rani Jhansi flick

JAIPUR: Controversy over films based on historical characters refuses to die down in Rajasthan. After 'Padmaavat', it is the turn of Kangana Ranaut-starrer 'Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi' to face the ire of a little-known right-wing fringe outfit, the Sarva Brahmin Mahasabha.
The Mahasabha's state president, Suresh Mishra, asked the Rajasthan government on Monday to immediately stop the shooting of the film to ensure historical facts were not distorted in the epic biographical film about Rani Laxmibai.

He insisted that the shooting would be allowed only after the film-makers gave an undertaking that no controversial scene would be shown in the movie.

At a press conference, the outfit said if the state government didn't react to their demand within three days, they would escalate their agitation. "We will meet Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh and Rajasthan home minister Gulab Chand Kataria seeking their intervention," Mishra added.

"Our sources have told us that the filmmakers are shooting for a love song in which Rani Laxmibai is seen with a British agent of East India Company. We suspect the producers are making the film based on the controversial book 'Rani' written by Jaishree Misra. On January 9, we had written a letter to producer Kamal Jain to share information on the writers and their profile. We had also asked them to share the profile of historians with whom the producers consulted," said Mishra.

"In order to check that the issue doesn't blow up like Padmaavat, the government must ensure nothing controversial is shown in the film. It should get an undertaking from the producers."

The film is being shot at Malsisar town in Jhunjhunu. The filmmakers had also shot some scenes at Amer Fort in Jaipur in 2017 and at Jodhpur's Mehrangarh Fort.