Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut has opted out of filmmaker Anurag Basu's next 'Imali' as she intends to pour more focus on her directorial venture. The project which also stars Rajkummar Rao, would have marked her third collaboration with Basu after her debut 'Gangster' and 'Life in a Metro'.
The actress had to opt out of the project as she has three films in the pipeline right now- 'Mental Hai Kya', 'Panga', and the recently announced 'Jayalalithaa' biopic. She said, "Last year, when I announced 'Panga' and 'Imali' together, Anurag Basu's film was supposed to go on floors in November 2018. But I had to direct and reshoot 'Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi'. So, I had to push 'Imali'. I was also meaning to be a director for a while, so I couldn't have said no to this. Meanwhile, 'Panga' had already started and I couldn't do that."
Kangana said, "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'm 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." She added her focus right now is on her next directorial. "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 because I've just delivered a Rs 100 Crore film and it's the right time for me."
