Bollywood’s tryst with movie releases at the Republic Day weekend is a forever going rendezvous. In a long string of blockbusters that talk about valour & sacrifice, Friday release of KV Vijayendra Prasad, Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi could comfortably be the newest entrant.
Many movie critics and fans alike thought that if anyone could bring to life arguably the most popular woman freedom fighter India has ever witnessed, it would be Kangana Ranaut. The actor who ruled the hearts of people with her bubbly Delhi girl role in Queen was challenged with the role of The Queen of Jhansi, and oh she shines!
Rani Lakshmibai heard of her name but don’t know much? The movie offers an opportunity to flip pages of the British India history and during the watch you are promised to feel, what it must be like to battle against British and to be gallant.
The tale spans across thirty years of the life of Lakshmibai, with the strong voiceover by Big B, the film keeps you binded. At times it does feel that some scenes could have been done away with the extreme drama but even for all that Ranaut’s act is one to witness. Oh the way she cruises with her sword and the fiery fiestiness in her eyes!
The sound score team has also done an applaud-able work in bringing to life the emotions that could only be done with the magic of music. The big regret fans could have with the movie, which actually notches down it to an average release, is how it panned out in the final hour. Kangana’s otherwise sizzling performance also takes toll.
Barring the final phase, the movie will be a crowd puller, Kangana Ranaut the crowd puller. There’s a lot you would take from the movie, the story of Lakshimibai that have been sealed in poems of school curriculum gets a life, finally.
