Kangana Ranaut Congratulates Manipuri Filmmaker Lakshmipriya Devi For Boong's BAFTA 2026 Win, Recalls Working With Her 10 Years Ago

Actor-filmmaker and politician Kangana Ranaut congratulated filmmaker Lakshmipriya Devi after her Manipuri film Boong won the Best Children’s & Family Film award at the 79th British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Awards.

Directed by Lakshmipriya Devi, Boong is produced by Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani. The film’s win marks a proud moment for Indian cinema, especially for the Northeast film industry.

Taking to her Instagram stories on Monday (February 23), Kangana praised the filmmaker and her team. She wrote, "Congratulations @lp_devi and the entire team of Boong for this award, you spoke so well and look great."

The actress also opened up about her long association with Lakshmipriya.

Sharing a heartfelt note, Kangana added, "Dear LP, when we first worked together more than a decade ago, you were my first AD on a film called Game, whispers on the sets were that LP is made for greatness. Your time is here my friend, you have no idea how much honour/respect you have brought to the entertainment industry, India and the north east. Wish you the best. Keep shining."

Filmmakers Anurag Kashyap and Karan Johar also congratulated Devi.

After winning the award, Devi, in her speech, said on stage, "The walk up till here felt like the last few steps to reach the summit of a mountain we never knew we were climbing in the first place. So, thank you to the jury members and BAFTA for giving our very small film such a big love. A film that is not only rooted in a place which is very troubled, very much ignored, and very unrepresented in India, my homeland, Manipur."

She further said, "So, just want to use this opportunity to say that we pray for peace to return to Manipur. We pray that all the internally displaced children, including the child actors in the film, regain their joy, their innocence, and their dreams once again. So, thank you, BAFTA, for giving us not only an award, but this stage to express our hope. Thank you, and have a wonderful evening everyone."