SRINAGAR: Kangana Ranaut, the controversial actress, is featuring in a Bollywood flick on one of Kashmir’s celebrated queens, Didda. The film has tentatively been named as Manikarnika Returns: The Legend of Didda.
“The film will feature her in the role of Didda, Queen of Kashmir, who showed exemplary courage against Mughal invader Mehmood Ghaznavi,” reports appearing in the media said. “The new film will be bigger and mounted on an international scale, adding that the team intends to make a world-class franchise of real-life women heroes. The idea is to bring forgotten woman heroes who have constructed the true identity of Bharat,” a news report quoting a source close to the production said.
Didda Rani was one of Kashmir’s powerful queens who assassinated most of her family members including grandchildren to retain power. She ruled for almost 50 years and is known to have been a great diplomat, a fearless decision-maker and a crafty ruler. She was basically from the Lohara dynasty in Pir Panchal valley who actually laid the foundation stone of the Lohara Kashmir rule.
Didda was beautiful but lame but her deformity did not prevent her from being a successful ruler of Kashmir. She ruled Kashmir between 950-1001 AD directly and indirectly. However, there is no historic evidence that she repulsed Mehmood Gaznavi’s Kashmir attack. It was in fact her nephew. Didda had died in 1003.
“The actor reportedly had a meeting with the film’s producer Kamal Jain recently where the script was finalised. The film is going to be a grand one, matching the international repute both in terms of budget and the appeal,” reports said. The film is expected to be rolled early 2022.
