Don’t know how Kangana can sleep by taking the first credit in direction, says 'Manikarnika' co-director Krish

Even as Kangana Ranaut starrer ‘Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi’ is out in the theatres now, the controversy surrounding its directorial credit doesn't seem to die down. In an explosive chat, the original director of the film, Krish Jagarlamudi, has opened up on what went down between him and Kangana-- leading him to leave the film.

In an interview with a website, Krish addressed the controversy for the first time and said in a chilling statement, “I don’t know how Kangana can sleep well by taking the first credit in direction when she does not deserve it.”

On how much of his portions have been 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. 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.”

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He then added that apparently Zee Studios, the production house behind the film took Kangana’s side in all of this. On how this started, he explained that how Kangana was busy shooting for ‘Mental Hai Kya’ in London and when she came back to see the film (which had been shot entirely by June-July), she said, she along with the production didn’t like all of it and wanted some cuts.

“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.

The actual fight started when she demanded that Sonu Sood’s character die in the first half of the film which Krish did not agree to. “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," he added.

As Sonu exited the project abruptly it was speculated that something accused him of "refusing to work under a woman director".

Recently, Sonu spoke of the film as it released and said, “Not being a part of that film will always bother me.”

Meanwhile, Kangana and Krish shared directorial credit for the film.