Kangana Ranaut Starrer Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi Lands In Trouble Once Again - Deets Inside

The much-awaited period drama Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi, which stars Kangana Ranaut, has been making headlines for quite a while now. From Kangana taking over the directorial reins of Manikarnika to Sonu Sood storming out of the film owing to differences with Kangana, the film has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. Now, the latest we hear is that the shooting of Kangana Ranaut’s Manikarnika was halted on Wednesday afternoon over non-payment of dues to their workers. Yes, you read that right. According to Federation of Western India Cine Employees, the makers of the film are yet to clear dues of approximately Rs 1.5 crore to the workers and junior artists. Manikarnika: After Nepotism, Kangana Ranaut Uses Sexism Card to Attack Sonu Sood for Walking Out of the Film

Talking about the same, Ashok Dubey, General Secretary of Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE), in a statement said, "It has been three months, but they have not cleared dues of daily wage workers, which is about Rs 40 lakh. About Rs 90 lakh are to be paid to light vendors and Rs 25 lakh to junior artistes. The producer [Kamal Jain] had promised to make the payment by October but he has not fulfilled his commitment."

Kangana starrer Manikarnika is slated to hit the silver screens on January 25, 2019, and is currently under post-production. Reportedly, the makers have been shooting some portions of the film at Film City in suburban Mumbai. However, now The Film Studio Setting and Allied Mazdoor Union workers stalled work on the sets. The workers union, who have been told that they will not be paid that if the shooting comes to a halt, then approached FWICE to seek their help in this matter. Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi New Still: Kangana Ranaut Looks Fierce As Warrior Princess

Reportedly, FWICE is planning to write a letter to Prime Focus, a company working on the post production of the film, and the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) to not work on the film and give it clearance till the payments are made. Dubey further told the news agency PTI, "There was some patch work that was remaining. We spoke to Kamal Jain in the first week of November to sort out this payment issue. But now he has stopped answering our calls," further adding, "We are also planning to meet Kirit Somaiya, who is the chairman of Labour committee."

Another concern is that the quality of food on the sets is not always good and there is also an issue of hygiene. Talking to PTI, Dubey further added, "The producers should understand the plight of these workers, technicians and junior artistes. There is no safety and security on the sets, there is no insurance for them." However, on contacting Jain, he remained unavailable for comment. Stay tuned to LatestLY for more updates.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 30, 2018 09:56 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).