The 67th National Film Awards were announced on Monday, and Kangana Ranaut bagged the Best Actress Award for Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi and Panga. Pinkvilla reached out to Kangana’s Panga director Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari and Manikarnika producer Kamal Jain to get their reactions on it. Ashwiny says that she is full of gratitude. “I still remember the date April 14, 2017, when I had gone to meet Kangana with Panga’s screenplay. I told her this is my vision, that this film is about a woman who has a lot of dreams and is also about giving hope to a whole lot of other women. She heard the screenplay and it didn’t even take her like 2 minutes to say that she’ll do the film, and I am not exaggerating,” Ashwiny remembers fondly.
The director further adds, “She took my vision forward, and that's what a good partnership is all about. I had the idea, the screenplay and the vision and she got it to life very beautifully on screen. I think she is an outstanding actor and she should get many more National Awards for many more films,” says Ashwiny. Besides Kangana, Panga had featured Neena Gupta, Jassie Gill and Richa Chadha. Meanwhile, Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi’s producer Kamal Jain is also all praise for the actress. 
It won’t be wrong to say that she has given her blood and sweat to the film, and I am extremely happy for her victory
Kamal Jain
“I always believed that Kangana fit the part well, and she did complete justice to it. It won’t be wrong to say that she has given her blood and sweat to the film, and I am extremely happy for her victory. She has worked very hard for the film and deserves all the applause for it,” Jain says.
