Lasyapriya Sundaram (BOMBAY TIMES; January 30, 2019)

Back in 2007, Aamir Khan and Amole Gupte had a spat over who really directed Taare Zameen Par. Buzz was floating around that Aamir had ghost-directed the film, and eventually, had officially taken over the director’s credit. Amole’s sole credit in the film was restricted to the writing department. The film went on to win critical acclaim and scored big at the box office, establishing Aamir as a director.

Now, Bollywood is witnessing a similar row again. Kangana Ranaut and director Radha Krishna Jagarlamudi (Krish) are at loggerheads over who directed who much of Manikarnika - The Queen Of Jhansi. Krish started the film, but Kangana took over at some point, reshot portions and replaced Sonu Sood. Krish moved on to helm the NTR biopic, however, in recent interviews, he has expressed his anguish about sharing the director’s credit with Kangana.

He told us, “I shot for this film for 109 days. The film’s shoot was completed by me and only four days of patchwork was left. I was going to be away for seven days in June and then 10 days in July. Sonu Sood had shot for the film for 38 days and she wanted to reshoot those portions. I didn’t agree with that. The film’s poster was released on August 15, I was credited as ‘Krish’. When the film’s teaser released on October 1, my name changed from ‘Krish’ to ‘Radha Krishna Jagarlamudi’. When the film’s trailer released, the director credits were given to me first, followed by Kangana Ranaut. However, when the film released, Kangana’s name appeared before mine in the credit roll. I was clearly sidelined. When I voiced my concerns, Kangana asked me where I was when Sonu Sood was bad mouthing her. I think she didn't like the fact that I didn't want Sonu Sood's portions to be reshot, and that's why my name was changed from Krish to Radha Krishna Jagarlamudi. And eventually, my name appeared after her name as director. Secondly, she shot for 30 to 35 days on her own. How could she have possibly reshot 70% of the film? This is my fourth period film. I have spent close to 400 days in envisaging, researching and then shooting this film. I was not welcome at the film’s promotional events as well. People want to be part of films because of their passion and they want to be credited for their work. It is not just for money.”

After Krish’s statement, Rangoli defended her sister through a series of tweets. Prasoon Joshi and Shankar Mahadevan also joined the debate.

Prasoon Joshi, who penned the film’s lyrics and dialogue, tweeted, “Kangana hasn’t only given an outstanding performance, she’s also elevated the film to another level thru her Direction n commitment. Let not any controversy take that away from her. It’s been a tough journey n am all fr celebrating everyone’s contribution.” Kangana’s sister Rangoli Chandel stated on Twitter, “Everything from clapboards to technicians are on record no need to worry Krish... it will take 10 mins for your bubble to burst @DirKrish... (Kangana’s) major challenge was post 2500 VFX shots, BGM and sound she achieved with super human speed in 2 months while you were not taking anybody’s call... I have spoken to Kangana and on her behalf I am officially declaring Kangana shot 70 percent of the film... she single handedly delivered first copy... if Krish can prove otherwise she will apologise and take her name back.” She added that “when the studio head saw what was shot he refused to give his logo to that film... team (writers) requested Kangana to take charge of the situation and the studio reimbursed more money.”

Meanwhile, Kangana, in her interview to us prior to the film’s release, had said, “Interestingly, when Kamal Jain (producer) had approached me, he felt that this subject needed a woman director. They offered me this film to direct. At that time, I thought that if I were to do this, I would need one year to prep, one year to shoot and one year for post-production. They obviously didn’t buy my three-year plan, and they said that Krish will write it in one year. I said I don’t know how that is possible. Even when I shot for the film as the director, I prepped for three-four months to shoot a 45-day schedule. I prefer to prep thoroughly, as I can’t function in chaos”. When asked if Krish had a different vision for the film, the actress had said, “Yes, he had a different vision for the film, which was more like an action-revenge drama. Now, it is more of a patriotic film, which is what I wanted it to be. When I came on board as a director, I felt that this film could have a bigger meaning. It isn’t about a piece of land or claiming the throne, there is a bigger picture. Along with the writers, we collectively tried to look for the bigger picture. We tried to bring about that spirit of patriotism in the story of the throne.”


KANGANA NE FILM KO PAAR KARAYA HAIN: SHANKAR MAHADEVAN

When we reached out to composer Shankar Mahadevan (of the Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy trio, who are the music directors of the film) he told us, “Krish had started directing the film and had done a lot of work, but I don’t know why he had to leave the film. He was directing the NTR biopic as well. Kangana took over the film and most importantly, she completed it. As long as Krish has been credited as a director, where is the problem? The film has released and it has received a lot of appreciation. The net result is that it’s a great film. Had Kangana not taken over and completed the film, it wouldn’t have made it to the theatres. She took the onus, stepped forward, took responsibility of every department and completed the film. Kangana ne film ko paar karaya hain, otherwise the project wouldn’t have seen the light of day.”