Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi

Manikarnika

Excerpts & links to reviews of Manikarnika

 

Starring: Kangana Ranaut, Ankita Lokhande, Danny Denzongpa
Director: Radha Krishna Jagarlamudi & Kangana Ranaut
India release date: Jan 25, 2019
Genre: Action, biography drama
Language: Hindi
Duration: 2 hrs, 28 mins

 

“Cartoonish stunts… a bit too cardboard… The overall impact is admittedly Amar Chitra Katha… There is much that is laughable, not least the British villains who attend court wearing bowlers and top hats and retire for wartime sleep in black satin pyjamas, but like the history books have always advertised about Jhansi, this is a one-woman show. Ranaut is glorious… and slices down enemy soldiers with a fury that must surely have injured some extras on the set.”

Rating: 3 stars | Full review

Raja Sen, Hindustan Times
Raja Sen
“Blows history to smithereens and reduces the Rani of Jhansi, one of the greatest warriors India has ever known, to a stunt queen.”

Rating: 1 star | Full review

Saibal Chatterjee, NDTV
Saibal Chatterjee

 

“Bollywood maybe opportunistic and spineless, but its members, no matter how divided, at least agree on how to market and monetise their country.”

| Full review

Tanul Thakur, The Wire
Tanul Thakur
“Is this the Queen we know or need?”

Rating: 2.5 stars | Full review

Sukanya Verma, Rediff
Sukanya Verma

 

“Ranaut in full battle mode is a sight to behold: harnessed, charged up, tearing and slashing through the rows of ‘dushman’ soldiers, all snarly and bloody.”

Rating: 2.5 stars | Full review

Shubhra Gupta, Indian Express
Shubhra Gupta
“If Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi wore the kind of ridiculously fashioned trousseau that Kangana Ranaut sports in this sartorially encumbered biopic about the valorous Queen then she certainly wouldn’t have won any battle worth eulogising about.”

Rating: 2 stars | Full review

Johnson Thomas, The Free Press Journal
Johnson Thomas

 

“Period films will often tell you more about the state of the country than contemporary ones… Manikarnika… is a slow-building, sustained surge of patriotic fervour, as messy and inflammable as a geyser on an oil rig.”

| Full review

Uday Bhatia, Live Mint
Uday Bhatia
“Kangana Ranaut is on fire as the iconic Rani Lakshmibai. Her spine is erect, her eyes are unblinking and she seems propelled by some other-worldly power… Her valor is hypnotic. So are her exquisite Neeta Lulla-designed saris and jewelry – this is a queen who wears pearls into battle. And there aren’t many leading ladies who can pull that off without looking ridiculous.”

Rating: 3 stars | Full review

Anupama Chopra, Film Companion
Anupama Chopra

 

 

Manikarnika on IMDB

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