Actress Kangana Ranaut is aiming for an Independence Day release for her historical film Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi, the same date that Gold has already locked since 2016. What makes the matter trickier is that both films are period epics riding on similar sentiments. While Gold chronicles Independent India’s first Olympic win, Manikarnika brings to screen the wartime exploits of Rani Laxmibai.

Considering the cramped-for-space nature of the Indian box office, as well as the recent dips in footfall, a clash of this proportion can cause heavy damage to both films, not to mention create trouble for other small fish releases.

Like Padmaavat, Manikarnika has already started to court controversy ahead of its release. Earlier, a Rajasthan-based Brahmin group had alleged that the film contains romantic sequences between Rani Laxmibai and a British officer.

Rubbishing the rumours, Kangana had clarified, “There is nothing controversial in Manikarnika. It’s really bad on our part to even think about creating such controversies for a woman who gave a tough fight to the British rulers while fighting alone for the country’s sake.”