Will the real Director please stand up? Krish, Kangana fight over Director’s credit

Krish unhappy to share credits with Kangana as director of “Manikarnika – The Queen Of Jhansi”.

Manikarnika is generating good word of mouth and doing well at the box office. And if you have seen the movie and closely observed the credits, you would have noticed that Kangana Ranaut and Krish are credited as the directors of the film.

Going by reports, Radha Krishna Jagarlamudi (Krish) is unhappy that Kangana Ranaut has also been credited as the director for the film. Krish expressed his anguish about sharing the director’s credit with Kangana in a recent interview.

“I shot for this film for 109 days. The film’s shoot was completed by me and only four days of patchwork was left. I was going to be away for seven days in June and then 10 days in July. Sonu Sood had shot for the film for 38 days and she wanted to reshoot those portions. I didn’t agree with that. The film’s poster was released on August 15, I was credited as ‘Krish’. When the film’s teaser released on October 1, my name changed from ‘Krish’ to ‘Radha Krishna Jagarlamudi’. When the film’s trailer released, the director credits were given to me first, followed by Kangana Ranaut. However, when the film released, Kangana’s name appeared before mine in the credit roll. I was clearly sidelined. When I voiced my concerns, Kangana asked me where I was when Sonu Sood was bad mouthing her. I think she didn’t like the fact that I didn’t want Sonu Sood’s portions to be reshot, and that’s why my name was changed from Krish to Radha Krishna Jagarlamudi. And eventually, my name appeared after her name as director. Secondly, she shot for 30 to 35 days on her own. How could she have possibly reshot 70% of the film? This is my fourth period film. I have spent close to 400 days in envisaging, researching and then shooting this film. I was not welcome at the film’s promotional events as well. People want to be part of films because of their passion and they want to be credited for their work. It is not just for money,” said Krish.

However, after Krish’s statement, not just Rangoli (Kangana’s sister) defended her, Prasoon Joshi (penned the film’s lyrics and dialogue) and Shankar Mahadevan (Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy are music composers for the film) also spoke in favour of Kangana.

“Kangana hasn’t only given an outstanding performance, she’s also elevated the film to another level thru her Direction n commitment. Let not any controversy take that away from her. It’s been a tough journey n am all fr celebrating everyone’s contribution,” Prasoon Joshi.

“Krish had started directing the film and had done a lot of work, but I don’t know why he had to leave the film. He was directing the NTR biopic as well. Kangana took over the film and most importantly, she completed it. As long as Krish has been credited as a director, where is the problem? The film has released and it has received a lot of appreciation. The net result is that it’s a great film. Had Kangana not taken over and completed the film, it wouldn’t have made it to the theatres. She took the onus, stepped forward, took responsibility of every department and completed the film. Kangana ne film ko paar karaya hain, otherwise the project wouldn’t have seen the light of day,” Shankar Mahadevan.

“Everything from clapboards to technicians are on record no need to worry Krish… it will take 10 mins for your bubble to burst @DirKrish… (Kangana’s) major challenge was post 2500 VFX shots, BGM and sound she achieved with super human speed in 2 months while you were not taking anybody’s call… I have spoken to Kangana and on her behalf I am officially declaring Kangana shot 70 percent of the film… she single handedly delivered first copy… if Krish can prove otherwise she will apologise and take her name back,” Rangoli Chandel.

She also added that “when the studio head saw what was shot he refused to give his logo to that film… team (writers) requested Kangana to take charge of the situation and the studio reimbursed more money.”

Here’s what Kangana had to say on this matter.

“When Kamal Jain (producer) had approached me, he felt that this subject needed a woman director. They offered me this film to direct. At that time, I thought that if I were to do this, I would need one year to prep, one year to shoot and one year for post-production. They obviously didn’t buy my three-year plan, and they said that Krish will write it in one year. I said I don’t know how that is possible. Even when I shot for the film as the director, I prepped for three-four months to shoot a 45-day schedule. I prefer to prep thoroughly, as I can’t function in chaos”.

When asked if Krish had a different vision for the film, the actress had said, “Yes, he had a different vision for the film, which was more like an action-revenge drama. Now, it is more of a patriotic film, which is what I wanted it to be. When I came on board as a director, I felt that this film could have a bigger meaning. It isn’t about a piece of land or claiming the throne, there is a bigger picture. Along with the writers, we collectively tried to look for the bigger picture. We tried to bring about that spirit of patriotism in the story of the throne.”

And here’s Filmmaker Krish’s side of the story…

Filmmaker Krish says Kangana’s claims of directing 70 per cent of the film is “bulls**t.”
As per the website spotboye.com, when filmmaker Krish was asked how much Kangana handled the film as a director, Krish said some 20-25 per cent of the first half. He also added, “I didn’t shoot a song and I didn’t shoot her entry scene (where she fells a tiger’s attack). 10-15 per cent in secon half. In the second half, she has even re-shot some scenes which I had done in a different way.”

The director says Kangana’s insistence on reducing the story arc of Sonu Sood’s character led to arguments. The director said “she wanted it all for herself”. “A few days later, I got a call from Sonu. He wanted to know if I was directing the film further or not. And then I got a call from Kamal Jain that Kangana is getting help from some guy and they will direct the film,” he adds. Sonu soon called him saying that his character was being killed off at interval; he was also informed by the producer that Kangana will take over. After Sonu left the project, Swati Semwal – who played his wife in the film – followed suit. Kangana even told me that Zee Studios hadn’t liked what I had made. It was looking like a Bhojpuri film. Kangana was rude over the phone and she “is rude all the time”.

Krish says within the same sequence he shot, Kangana simply added close up shots and took directorial credits. He also stated that he wasn’t aware of Kangana taking charge until he heard about Sonu Sood’s exit.

Filmmakers Pooja Bhatt and Bejoy Nambiar have come out in support of Krish and have criticised the actor for the manner in which the entire thing has been dealt.

Apurva Asrani, who had accused Kangana of stealing credit for Simran, reiterated his claims and stressed that he went through the same kind of struggle faced by Krish during Manikarnika. Pooja Bhatt tweeted, “This is so wrong… on every level… this is not the industry I was born to and not the industry I wish to inherit. Eventually it is credit we work for… money comes & money goes… the first rule of filmmaking is to acknowledge people’s contribution. “

Apurva replied to Pooja Bhatt’s tweet and said, “Thankyou for finally acknowledging this. I had yearned for your support when she did this to me 2 years ago too. But still, I’m happy to see this condemnation from you.”

Pooja replied to Apurva saying, “Am sorry if it seemed like I was being reticent with regards to my support then. The details of that situation,even though spelt out by all seemed murky to me which is why I didn’t jump in. Though I always maintained that Hansal’s silence felt odd & rather unjust.”

“Her game is brutal. She first plays the victim & wins your trust. You give your all, sacrifice all other work, because she seems lovely. Then when you’re ready with a film you nurtured/created, she has you thrown out. Then she uses the press & trolls to character assasinate you.” Apurva Asrani.

Director Bejoy Nambiar also tweeted in support of Krish, “This is just heartbreaking to watch ! No one should have to go through something like this. After #Simran & @Apurvasrani’s episode this is the 2nd time someone is calling her out. EARN your credit & GIVE credit where it’s due #KanganaRanaut.”

Back in 2007, Aamir Khan and Amole Gupte fought over who really directed Taare Zameen Par (TZP). Even though Amole Gupte started off as the director of the film, Aamir (also the producer of the movie) was ghost-directing the film, and was eventually credited as the director of the film. Amole was only credited for writing. The film did extremely well, establishing Aamir as a director. Here’s what Amole Gupte had to say about the TZP controversy.