The mixed reactions to Simran and the lukewarm response it has got at the box-office has reportedly had an impact on Kangana Ranaut’s ambitious home production - Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi.
Kangana’s new release Simran just managed to earn Rs 10.65 crore over its first weekend. With an estimated budget of over Rs 30 crore, the film might eventually be a loss for its producers.
According to report in Bollywood Hungama, the ripple effect of Simran’s failure will be felt by Kangana’s under production pet project Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi, a period film on the life of Rani Laxmibai of Jhansi and her war against the British East India Company in 1857.
Produced by Kamal Jain and Zee Studios, Manikarnika is reportedly being made on a budget of Rs 80 crore and post Simran, the producers obviously don’t see it as a viable budget any longer.
However the same report also quotes producer Jain stating that there has been no efforts to slash the budget of Manikarnika. Jain says that they started the film right after the failure of Rangoon, which was a bigger debacle than Simran, so there is no reason why they would be having second thoughts now.
He justifies the budget required for the film on the basis that it has been mounted on an epic scale with extraordinary action. “I have a crowd of almost 700 on the sets every day with 200 horses coming from both the sides etc.” adds Jain.
Manikarnika has been scripted by KV Vijayendra Prasad, the man behind the mega successful Baahubali series and it’s being directed by Krish who gave Akshay Kumar his big hit Gabbar Is Back. Perhaps the unparalleled success of Baahubali has given the producers enough confidence to go ahead with a Rs 80 crore budget for Manikarnika. Here’s hoping the team the very best.
(Source: Bollywood Hungama)
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