Manikarnika New Stills: Ankita Lokhande Looks Fierce as Jahalkari Bai

Television actress Ankita Lokhande is all set to make her Bollywood debut with Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi. On Thursday, film trade analyst Taran Adarsh took to Twitter to share the first look of the actress in Manikarnika as Jhalkari Bai, a soldier and advisor in Rani Laxmi Bai's army.

Sharing the look he wrote, "Ankita Lokhande as Jhalkari Bai in #Manikarnika - The Queen Of Jhansi... Stars Kangana Ranaut in the lead... Trailer launch on 18 Dec 2018... Zee Studios to release the film in over 50 countries worldwide... In #Hindi, #Tamil and #Telugu... 25 Jan 2019 release." (sic)

In one of the pictures, Ankita can be seen holding a gun over her shoulder while in another she holds her stance riding a horse. In both the photos, the actress looks fierce and daunting.

Take a look:

Last month Ankita treated her fans with a behind the set picture as she shot for the film. "Jhalkari bai definitely knows the way to even a modern man’s heart ! #Manikarnika @vaibhav.tatwawaadi #ItsBlurForAReason#jhalkaribai," she wrote alongside the photo.

Manikarnika has been creating controversy ever since it was announced. First, its director Krish Jagarlamudi abandoned it midway, forcing Kangana to take up his duties. Then actor Sonu Sood, who was playing Maratha Army commander-in-chief Sadhashivrao Bhau, quit the film. Next, Zee Studio’s business head Sujay Kutty was sacked for agreeing to hike the film’s budget from an estimated Rs 60 crore to Rs 125 crore. Most recently, actor Swati Semwal, who was to play Sadhashivrao’s wife Parvati in the film, also quit.

Written by KV Vijayendra Prasad of Baahubali fame, Manikarnika is slated to release on January 25, 2019.