Director Radha Krishna Jagarlamudi or Krish as he is popularly known, has revealed the reason why he quit Kangana Ranaut starrer Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi in a recent interview with SpotboyE. The film, which released on Friday, was being directed by Krish but after Sonu Sood’s exit from the film and some disagreements between Krish and Kangana, Ranaut took over the directing duties, making it her directorial debut.
While speaking to SpotboyE, Krish opened up about the controversy. When he was asked how much of his portions Kangana cut from the film, he said, “Difficult to say. But I think Kangana has done 20-25 per cent of the first half. I didn’t shoot a song and I didn’t shoot her entry scene.”
He added, “In the second half, she has even re-shot some scenes which I had done in a different way. But it’s okay now. The film is looking brilliant. I am happy that she didn’t spoil it much.”
Krish said Kangana told him that Zee Studios, the production house behind the film, did not like his cut. “Kangana even told me that Zee Studios hadn’t liked what I had made. It was looking like a Bhojpuri film. I laughed. People know my previous work. We argued but she wanted her own way. I just couldn’t understand,” he said.
When asked about Sonu Sood, who also quit the film over disagreements with Kangana, Krish said, “She (Kangana) said Sonu is not required in the second half. But I put my foot down. Big arguments followed. Kamal Jain (one of the film’s producers) took Kangana’s side.”
Krish also said Kangana’s claim that Sonu Sood could not take orders from a female director and quit because of that reason was false. “And yeah, I felt very bad when I read in the papers Kangana saying that ‘Sonu couldn’t take orders from a female director’. That was annoying and bad. It never happened. What she said was untrue. I don’t blame Sonu for quitting. His run time was 100 minutes and it was being chopped to 60 minutes. Who will agree? Nobody would,” he added.
