Same story, but different perspective

After Kangana Ranaut’s Manikarnika, another film on the queen of Jhansi is currently in the making. Indian-origin American actress Devika Bhise, who was last seen opposite Dev Patel in The Man Who Knew Infinity, will be playing the lead role in the film, which is titled as The Warrior Queen of Jhansi. The movie is a period drama set in the 1857 Indian rebellion against the British East India Company. Says Devika, “Through this film, we are trying to depict the valour of our powerful women in the times when the East India Company carried out atrocities on Indians. It is about how women like Rani took swords in their hands to protect the Motherland.”

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On being compared with Manikarnika, Devika adds, “This story doesn’t cater to the same audiences as Kangana’s film. Ours is a global audience, and we have tried our level best to bring forth the reality of the 1857 period. Unlike Manikarnika, there is no song and dance in our film, and we have cast real English actors who would look like the real characters of the then East India Company. I have not seen Manikarnika, but we took a natural and realistic approach to the film. We have not introduced any fictitious story because the audience will mock us if we do so. So we have tried our level best to stick to realism.”