Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi

*ing: Kangana Ranaut, Atul Kulkarni, Jisshu Sengupta, Ankita Lokhande

Rated: 6.5/10

Kangana Ranaut owns the screen with a never-before fierceness, nabling the fabled queen of Jhansi to come alive in public imagination. From the first stunning shot of her downing a tiger, to the last one in which she steps on fire, she dominates the proceedings but more as an actor than as the first-time director.

Kangana as Manikarnika, or Jhansi Ki Rani as we know her more popularly, breathes brimstone and fire into the character and stokes all possible shades of patriotism through the legendary queen’s meteoric and glorious journey through the thick and thin of India’s azaadi yatra in the 19th century when it was the unscrupulous British East India Company lustily gobbling up territories and prides of local kings.

But Jhansi was another story and Ranaut leaves no fort unturned to showcase this small kingdom’s fight to keep its independence through their charismatic queen, much after the death of her husband who leaves her to fend with the sword to save their adopted son after the real one is poisoned to death by the king’s rival brother.

The war scenes are impeccably shot, as is Kangana as the warrior almighty. There is a dig at the Scindias siding with the Brits, a jab at the British lack of culture and an unforgiving wave of anger against those who have no fire in their belly for the motherland. Amid all this and much more, you can’t just have enough of Kangana’s screen brilliance even as the narrative gets too stuck between swords and cannons towards the end.

On the whole, this one is a treat to watch. More from you Kangana both before and behind the camera.