Bollywood actor actor Kangana Ranaut has opted out of filmmaker Anurag Basu’s next Imali as she wants to focus more on her directorial venture. The project, which will also feature Rajkummar Rao, would have marked her third collaboration with Basu after her debut Gangster and Life in a Metro.

Kangana had to opt out of the project as she has three films at her hand - Mental Hai Kya, Panga and the recently announced Jayalalithaa biopic. She said, “Last year, when I announced Panga and Imali together, Anurag Basu’s film was supposed to go on floors in November 2018. But I had to direct and reshoot Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi. So, I had to push Imali. I was also meaning to be a director for a while, so I couldn’t have said no to this. Meanwhile, Panga had already started and I couldn’t not do that.”

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The actor said Imali was supposed to go on floors in November 2018 but she had to direct and reshoot Manikarnika, so the film was pushed. “Anurag and I have spoken about it. I feel extremely bad because ‘Imali’ was giving me an opportunity to work with my mentor again, but I’m on the verge of announcing my own film in a few weeks from now. That has taken a lot of my time and I have conveyed it to Anurag, who understood my situation,” she said in a statement.

The actor said her focus right now is on her next directorial. “We will work together at some point. Imali is a beautiful love story and we can do that later. But right now, my focus is on my next directorial venture because I’ve just delivered a Rs 100-crore film and it’s the right time for me.”

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First Published: Apr 03, 2019 11:04 IST