Kangana's 'Rani Lakshmi Bai' not shelved

Kangana Ranaut was taken aback to hear the buzz about her Ketan Mehta -directed biopic "Rani Lakshmi Bai" being shelved. Refuting the rumours, the actress says the film will go on the floors as scheduled, and pre-production work was already in full swing.

Kangana, who is on her way to London to speak at the Women in the World summit after attending a few shows at the ongoing Paris Fashion Week, says even the filmmaker laughed off the rumours.

"We are in Paris on our way to London when we got the news and we immediately called Ketan Sir as we got worried about the project. This is a magnum opus and it needs at least one year of pre-production which has started in full swing.

"We all have invested way too much in the film. Naturally, we panicked but in the past, too, we have been a victim of such fabricated stories which were spread to harm our projects," Kangana said in a statement.

Ketan said: "I want to laugh about these rumours floating in the industry. The film is very much happening as per schedule."

The film will be based on the Rani of Jhansi, one of the leaders of the First Indian War of Independence in 1857.

After "Katti Batti", which turned out to be a damp squib at the box office, Kangana has projects like Hansal Mehta's "Simran" and Vishal Bhardwaj's "Rangoon" in her kitty.