Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut is set to return with the second installment of the Manikarnika franchise. Titled Manikarnika Returns: The Legend Of Didda, the film will revolve around the life of Didda, Kashmir’s first woman ruler, sometimes described as the “Cleopatra of Kashmir”. Didda ruled Kashmir directly and indirectly for around five decades in the 10th and 11th centuries. According to sources close to the development, Manikarnika Returns: The Legend Of Didda will be mounted on an international scale. The movie will be jointly produced by Kangana and Kamal Jain, who bankrolled the first installment, Manikarnika: The Queen Of Jhansi (2019).The film is expected to go on floors in January 2022.The first film in the Manikarnika franchise, Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi, based on the life of Rani Lakshmi Bai, starred Kangana Ranaut, Atul Kulkarni, Ankita Lokhande, Jisshu Sengupta, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub and Vaibhav Tatwawaadi. Radha Krishna Jagarlamudi and Kangana jointly shared the direction credits.
