Bollywood’s love affair with history is well-known. Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Ashutosh Govariker are literally the poster boys of the genre with a number of period films in their kitty.

And talking about history, everyone is well aware of Kangana Ranaut’s new venture Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi, in which she plays the titular role. But according to the latest reports, Kangana seems to have competition this time. And it comes from (none other than) Devika Bhise, who played and excelled as Mathematician Ramanujan’s wife in the Hollywood film, The Man Who Knew Infinity.

Choreographer and producer Swati Bhise (Devika’s mother), who was the Executive Producer to the Ramanujan biopic, has been planning a bi-lingual film all this while which will be directed by Mahesh Manjrekar. Moreover, this project is all set to release worldwide, way before Kangana’s version.  

This news might seem as a setback for the Kangana Ranaut-starrer but this isn’t the only one. Just last week, Ketan Mehta sent a legal notice to Kangana for hijacking his project. He stated how he and Kangana were supposed to team up for the film but then Kangana went ahead and announced another film with the same theme.

For those who were wondering, the concept of multiple films on the same historical figure isn’t a novel idea in Bollywood. A similar situation arose with freedom fighter Bhagat Singh, when more than two films based on him were released in the same year (2002). 

So will the Kangana-starrer be the best Rani of Jhansi? Well, only time will tell, but what we’re confident about is the fact that Kangana Ranaut’s popularity surpasses anything in the country (or even the world) right now. Whatever she touches, turns to gold (well, Rangoon was an exception). The fact is that Kangana is feisty; she speaks her mind and is renowned to not mince her words. Highly opinionated and fierce, Kangana is like a breath of fresh air in this politically-correct Bollywood industry. And with that fearless attitude in real-life, we think Kangana is a fabulous choice to play the character of the Rani of Jhansi. We wish her all the best!