Kangna Ranaut bows out of Anurag Basu’s Imali

Queen (2014) star Kangna Ranaut has dropped out of filmmaker Anurag Basu’s next directorial venture Imali, which she had signed in 2018. The actress has taken the decision to focus more on her directorial venture, which she is planning to announce in a couple of weeks.

Imali also stars supremely talented Rajkummar Rao in the lead role. The project was set to mark Ranaut’s third collaboration with Basu and Rao.

The three-time National Film Award-winning actress started her acting career with Basu’s Gangster (2006) and then went on to play a pivotal part in his next directorial Life In A Metro (2007). With Rao, she first collaborated on Queen. Her next film with the actor is Mental Hai Kya, which is gearing up for its release in May.

On leaving Imali, Kangana said that she is feeling bad about not being able to reteam with her mentor Anurag Basu. “Anurag and I have spoken about it. I feel extremely bad because Imali was giving me an opportunity to work with my mentor again, but I am on the verge of announcing my own film in a few weeks from now. That has taken a lot of my time and I have conveyed it to Anurag, who understood my situation,” the actress said in a statement.

She went on to add, “We will work together at some point. Imali is a beautiful love story and we can do that later. But right now, my focus is on my next directorial venture.”

Kangana was most recently seen in historical drama Manikarnika: The Queen Of Jhansi.