To everyone’s shock, Sonu Sood has decided to leave Kangana Ranaut-starrer ‘Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi’ reportedly due to a showdown with films lead actress Kangana Ranaut. However, Kangana slammed reports of a showdown saying, “When I never met him, never directed him, when did I have this showdown?”
In a statement, Kangana said, “Sonu and I haven’t even met since the last shot with Krish (director) last year. He is busy filming ‘Simmba’. He couldn’t even give us tentative dates to match combinations with other actors. The producers showed him the film and writers narrated the patchwork to him. He refused to meet me. He vehemently denied working under a woman director, which is kind of amusing because Sonu is a dear friend and I have even launched the music of a film that he produced at his request. Even though the team suggested that they have full faith in me, it seems, Sonu had neither dates nor faith.”
Meanwhile, Sonu has responded to Kangana’s accusations with his spokesperson and said that the actor has chosen to take the high road and wishes the Manikarnika team all the best, even as Kangana has announced that she will recast the role with another actor. According to the spokesperson, Sonu, who is filming Rohit Shetty’s “Simmba” right now, was recently asked to reshoot portions for “Manikarnika” by Kangana.
The 45-year-old actor is sporting a beard for the Ranveer Singh-starrer, but for “Manikarnika” he was asked to go clean shaven. Sonu had asked the makers of the biopic to finish the re-shoots after he completes his schedule for “Simmba” but things did not work out and he decided to quit the project.
“Sonu has always been a thorough professional and honoured all his commitments. He had informed the makers of ‘Manikarnika’ about his dates and schedule well in advance. Inconveniencing the team of his current film to accommodate the demands of another are against his professional principles.
“Sonu has taken the higher road ahead and wishes the team of ‘Manikarnika’ all the best,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
With PTI inputs.