Author of Didda's biography calls Kangana Ranaut's film 'violation of copyright laws of the country that she swears by'

Ashish Kaul, author of Didda - Kashmir Ki Yodha Rani, has claimed that he had shared the story of the queen of Poonch with Kangana Ranaut regarding his book but never got a reply from her.

Hours after Kangana Ranaut announced her next, Manikarnika Returns: The Legend of Didda, the copyright owner of the biography on the warrior queen of Kashmir, has accused her of "blatantly violating his sole rights".

Kangana Ranaut has announced a film on Didda.

Ashish Kaul, author of Didda - Kashmir Ki Yodha Rani, has claimed that he has the exclusive copyrights to the story of Didda and had approached the actor to write a foreword for the Hindi version of the book in September last year but never got a reply from her or her then manager, Rangoli Chandel. He however, still believes that the actor may have been "misguided" to make a film on the story he had shared with her, along with his request.

Ashish told Times of India in an interview, “Is it believable by any stretch of imagination that a story and a book is being usurped by a renowned actor-turned-social activist? She may even turn around and claim that Didda is a historical figure, which is true except the fact that no historian in the world, apart from Kalhan who wrote just two pages on her, and me, who has spent six years on research and documentation, who have information on her. I am deeply aghast that a person as aware, knowledgeable, and apparently a nationalist and a voice for causes, has chosen to belittle her image so.

He further added, "She has blatantly violated my sole rights; it is illegal and an absolute violation of the IPR and copyright laws of the same country that she swears by. I find it so brazen and hideous and I am still inclined to believe that Kangana has been misguided.”

Manikarnika Returns: The Legend of Didda will be the sequel to Kangana's 2019 film Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi. Ahead of the film's second anniversary later this month, the actor announced the film on Thursday.

She tweeted along with a picture of her and filmmaker Kamal Jain, “Humara bharatvarsh sakshi raha hai Jhansi ki rani jaise kai veeranganao ki kahaani ka. Aisi hi ek aur ankahee veergatha hai Kashmir ki ek rani ki, jisne Mahmud Ghaznavi ko ek nahi, do baar haraya (India has seen several bravehearts like the queen of Jhansi. Another such untold story of heroism is of a queen from Kashmir, who defeated Mahmud of Ghazni not once but twice in battle).”