Actor Kangana Ranaut is happy as her directorial venture Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi has been selected for screening at the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival. The actor, who played the lead role, reacted sharply on the new achievement. She called out the ‘movie mafia’ for hailing Zoya Akhtar’s Gully Boy but not showering praise on Manikarnika.

In an interview to Pinkvilla, the actor said, “We are thrilled with this development, especially when Gully Boy was hailed by the entire industry and there was not a single word by anyone on Manikarnika. The movie mafia tried to kill this film but for Manikarnika to get commercial success and now international recognition along with other celebrated films is a big slap on movie mafia’s face. You can’t stop a good film especially in this time and age when the world is all one big family because of social media.”

Besides Manikarnika, Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt starrer Gully Boy and Ayushmann Khurrana’s Andhadhun will also be screened at the festival.

Kangana had earlier expressed displeasure on being compared to Alia Bhatt in a poll conducted by Bollywoodlife.com. “I am embarrassed...What is there to beat in Gully Boy performance... Same snappy muh-phat (outspoken) girl... Bollywood’s idea of a fiery girl, woman empowerment and good acting, spare me this embarrassment, please. Media has taken filmy kids love too far... Stop pampering mediocre work or else bar will never be raised,” she had said.

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Alia had, however, reacted to Kangana’s remark in a diplomatic way. She had said, “I respect Kangana’s work a lot and I respect her opinion. If she feels a particular way she must have reason to feel that way. I would rather remember how much she had praised me after watching Raazi. And I’d just like to focus on my work. Maybe she will appreciate me again if I work hard enough.”

Kangana is currently on a short break from the shooting of her next film, Panga. The actor is spending quality time with her family in Manali, Himachal Pradesh. She is also enjoying gardening in her free time. She plays a kabaddi player in the Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari;s film. She will also be seen in Mental Hai Kya which is set to hit theatres on July 26. It also stars Rajkummar Rao.

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First Published: Jun 14, 2019 15:24 IST