Manikarnika may be doing very well at the box office, but it is in talks now for a very controversial reason. The movie marks the directorial debut of its lead actress, Kangana Ranaut, who shares the credit with Telugu film-maker Krish. This happened after Krish had completed the shoot for the film, and Kangana took charge claiming reshoots. Later, during the promotions, Kangana even claimed that she reshot nearly 70% of the film on her own, and the movie's credits place her name before Krish's (whose name is written as Radha Krishna Jagarlamudi). Kangana Ranaut Vs Krish: 5 Shocking Revelations Made by Manikarnika Director Against the Lead Actress!

Krish who had maintained silence throughout the whole fracas, has now been giving out tell-all interviews to a couple of publications. He had alleged that Kangana had reduced the screentime of many of the supporting cast and made the movie all about herself. He also claimed that she had made only a few changes, while the rest of the film was all his vision. 'Look At Her Guts!' Manikarnika Director Krish Unleashes his Fury on Kangana Ranaut - Read Explosive Interview.

As Krish's allegations about Kangana highjacking his film is echoing loud on social media, he is not the only director to have done so. That too for the same film!

Before Krish came on board as the director, Ketan Mehta of Mangal Pandey fame was supposed to direct the film. He had done the research for the film and Kangana Ranaut was later brought on board as the lead actress. And then one fine day, Ketan was out of the film. Kangana Ranaut's Manikarnika Ready To Release! Actress Wins Copyrights Case Against Ketan Mehta.

In an interview to The Indian Express, Ketan Mehta had revealed what happened around his exit. He said, "She (Kangana) had confirmed her commitment to this project. Over this period of time, we shared all our material with her. We were planning for an international co-production for a global audience. We had shared several drafts of the script, all the visual material and references of the film and designs over a period of time with her. We had already tied up with an international co-producer and we were looking out for an Indian co-producer. That’s when Kangana introduced us to Kamal Jain as a prospective co-producer. We shared all the information and the entire project with him. We had some meetings with him too. And then we suddenly hear that they (Kamal Jain and Kangana Ranaut) are doing the project together, independent of us. That came to us as a complete shock."

He had sent a legal notice to the Manikarnika team. However, the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has closed an inquiry into the complaint filed by the director in 2017. As reported in Midday, a source close to Kangana said, “We have won the case. Ketan claimed that we stole his script. We submitted ours and they closed the case." It will be interesting to see if Krish and Ketan Mehta share notes on their common betrayal by Kangana Ranaut.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 28, 2019 08:58 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).