Exclusive! Thackeray threatens Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi?

Emraan Hashmi’s Cheat India has given way to Thackeray, the biopic of Shiv Sena supremo Balasaheb Thackeray that releases on January 25. And we now hear that there is a high possibility of Kangana Ranaut’s directorial debut Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi shifting its release date as well. The buzz is that the makers of Manikarnika are under pressure to push the release of the film so that there is no clash at the box office. An insider says, “There will be issues with the cinema halls as Thackeray has been the hero for the whole of Maharashtra. Besides, the film is being released in two languages. The Shiv Sena and MNS have been fighting for preference of screens for Marathi films, so it only makes sense for them to shift Manikarnika.”

While sources from the side of the makers of Manikarnika maintain that there is no pressure of any sort to shift the date and so they will not change the release dates, the ongoing buzz among industry and political circles suggests otherwise. It may be recalled here that Emraan had held a joint press conference with producer of Thackeray Sanjay Raut to announce the preponement of his film Cheat India, which earlier was to clash with Manikarnika as well. Emraan had defended their move saying, “We felt our film is a high concept film and a story that’s never been touched before so we want our film to have a week to nourish.”

Raut also had denied any threat by their youth leaders on social media to other films releasing on the same day as Thackeray. Just recently when Aamir Khan was told that producers of Cheat India have shifted the release date due to Thackeray, the actor reportedly said, “All producers want their films to get released on some special date, but if a film like Thackeray is getting launched, then no one will want to compete with it as Balasaheb was the biggest star of Maharashtra.” So now it remains to be seen if the makers of Manikarnika stick to the date or shift to avoid any issues on January 25th.