Actor Jisshu Sengupta who has impressed the critics and audiences with his acting and performance in Raees (2016), is all set to portray the character of Rani Lakshmibai's husband Maharaja Gangadhar Rao in Kangana Ranaut starrer historical biopic period drama Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi. The movie showcases the entire story and life of our country's first only female warrior queen Rani LaxmiBai which will be played by national award winning actress Kangana Ranaut and how it symbolizes her braveness and valour for our country's freedom even today.

The actor who has always dabbled his hands and experimented in his roles right from playing a vicious dacoit in Srijit Mukherjee's RajKahini to a half-naked sadhu in Srijit Mukherjee's Ek Je Chhilo Raja (EJCR) surely looks magnificent as a king in the film.

Actor Jisshu Sengupta's look as royal king Maharaja Gangadhar Rao is out and he literally looks every bit of magnificent and imperial in it.

Jisshu's character in Manikarnika is one of the lesser known kings of his era and time and had immense interest for performing in arts, theatre and music. He was also very liberal and a loving husband who always was supportive towards Manikarnika and gave unconditional moral support to especially her warrior side.

To profess his love for his wife Manikarnika, he had built the largest library of that time in India inside the palace because Manikarnika loved reading books.

According to Jisshu, it was exciting and challenging for him to portray this role. ''Every aspect of shooting has been special for me. I was essaying the character of a Sadhu in Srijit's EJCR and also a king in Manikarnika. It was hard to keep switching roles. But when it comes to Gangadhar, I enjoyed the depiction. It feels good when mainstream cinema acknowledges regional actors like me for roles that are generally played by more commercial Bollywood actors'', the actor told us.

Produced by Zee Studios in association with Kamal Jain and Nishant Pitti, the film also marks the big transition and bollywood debut of TV sensation Ankita Lokhande who will be seen portraying the character of JhalkariBai who is queen's closest aide and confidant in the film.

There's a stellar ensemble cast that includes Atul Kulkarni as Tatya Tope, Suresh Oberoi as Bajirao 2, and Danny Denzongpa as Ghulam Ghaus Khan among others. The film is scheduled to release on January 25th 2019 in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu simultaneously.