Actress Kangana Ranaut was full of praise for lyricist Prasoon Joshi, and the composer trio of Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani and Loy Mendonsa at the music launch of Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi (2019) yesterday in Mumbai.
“Often people tell me there are no heroes in my film (Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi). I want to tell them that them that this is not true. These [pointing to Joshi, and the music composers] are my heroes. We have lots of heroes in the film, to begin with, we have Prasoon sir, Shankar sir, Ehsaan, Loy, [co-director] Krish, [writer] Vijayendra Prasad, [producer] Kamal Jain. They are all kings of the queen," said Ranaut.
Ranaut stunned all when she said that she was just a small part of a very big film. “I’m a small part of this very big film. I have always done small films in my career. When I say this film is big, it’s not just because of the story, scale, but it is big because of the kind of artistes that I am getting to work with. It’s the first time that I am working with Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, Prasoon. Words cannot explain my joy,” she said.
It seemed like a mutual admiration society as Joshi and Shankar also expressed their delight for working in such a film.
“I have always wondered why we hardly had any films made on Rani Lakshmibai. I was busy when I heard about this film coming up. But because it was about Rani Lakshmibai, and then when I heard it is Kangana Ranaut who is going to play her, I couldn’t have asked for [anything] better," said Joshi.
For Shankar, working on this project was akin to a blessing.
“When we get such projects, the only feeling is that we feel blessed. Not everyday you get a chance to create music for a film like Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi. Through this music, if we are able to communicate what she has done for the country, even a little bit, I think we would have achieved a lot. It is a true milestone for us,” said Shankar.
Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi will be released on 25 January.