Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; March 16, 2018)

Mirror (July 3) had earlier reported that Ankita Lokhande is graduating to the big screen as Jhalkaribai in the Krish-directed period film, Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi, that features Kangana Ranaut in the titular role. This is how the actress will appear in the period drama.

“Ankita has finished shooting most of her portions in Jodhpur, Bikaner and Mumbai and has only a few days of work left, including a song, filming for which will commence shortly. As part of her prep, she had extensive conversations with Krish about her look and character while also reading up online and referencing the research material,” informs a source close to the production.

Jhalkaribai was one of the lesser known warriors in Rani Lakshmibai’s army who rose to the position of a prominent advisor and, at the peak of their battle with the British, disguised herself as the queen so she could hoodwink the enemy. “I’d never heard of her before, in fact, not many have, but Jhalkaribai was one of the greatest heroes of our Indian history. I’m honoured that I’ll be telling her story to the world, fighting alongside Kangana’s Rani Lakshmibai,” Ankita had told Mirror earlier (July 3), who as part of her prep trained in sword-fighting with Hollywood action director Nick Powell, who has to his credit films like Braveheart, The Last Samurai, Resident Evil: Retribution, The Three Musketeers and Bourne Identity, among others. The Pavitra Rishta telly star also learnt horse-riding for her debut film.