Despite the hurdles, Kangana Ranaut’s controversial film Manikarnika The Queen of Jhansi will head to theatres on January 25, 2019.

After grabbing headlines for a viral clapboard photo with Kangana Ranaut’s name as director and the shocking exit of Sonu Sood from the film, Manikarnika – The Queen of Jhansi is back in news again. The latest development is that major portions of the film will be reshot.

“The fall out between Kangana and Sonu was a nasty one. It was gradually that Sonu realized Manikarnika under the direction of Kangana was not progressing as scripted. Upon expressing his concerns, Kangana hurled outrageous abuses at Sonu. That’s when Sonu decided that it was enough, and excused himself from the project,” a source close to the film said.

Speaking about the status of the film, the source added, “The team has only shot for 20 days out of the 70-day long shooting schedule of the film. Now with a pivotal character like Sonu walking out of the film, major portions of Manikarnika will have to be reshot.”

Earlier, clarifying why Kangana Ranaut will be directing the film from now on, producer Kamal Jain said, “After the last schedule was over, we saw the lineup of the film. On seeing it, we decided that apart from the patchwork, we also needed a few additional scenes. Once the scenes were written, we approached Kangana for additional dates. But Krish had moved on to his next project by then. Given how driven and creatively involved Kangana Ranaut has been on this project since its inception, we realised that she would be the best person to take over the mantle. Hence, there is no hijacking of the project and whatever decisions are being taken are with the full support of the producer and the studio.”