I do not want to be confined in a mould: Manisha Koirala

Manisha Koirala opens up on playing an adulterous spouse in Lust Stories, Nargis Dutt in Sanju, and staying away from convention

Learning curve: Manisha Koirala admits to thrive on feedback and validation; (below) still from Lust Stories

When Dibakar Banerjee narrated the idea of his Lust Stories short to Manisha Koirala over Skype, she thought the title was strange. “It was called Love Lust and Everything In Between or something like that. It made [me] wonder what kind of movie it would be,” she recollects. She was also sceptical about playing the bored and unfaithful wife. “I am a little conservative in my approach. I was unsure if I would be a fit [for it]. I told Dibakar you might need a bolder person,” she says. We catch the actor in a cheerful and candid mood admitting a sense of relief that everything fell into the right place despite her initial hesitation. “I had seen and loved his short in Bombay Talkies . I knew he would make something sensible… At every step [Banerjee] was careful. He has been sensitive and respectful,” she says.

Credit where it’s due

When

Lust Stories dropped on Netflix, Koirala was busy with an outdoor shoot in Lucknow for Sanjay Dutt Productions’

Khanum , a remake of Dev Katta’s Telugu film

Prasthanam . “I was very conscious. I waited till [the] reviews started coming in. I was so nervous,” she shares. She was pleasantly surprised with the results, acknowledging all four directors. “I could see the directors’ souls and spirits in all four [shorts]… [When] intellectual directors make [films on] a subject like this they bring out the story in a nice way rather than an easy way,” she says. Koirala is as generous in heaping compliments on the actors, “Everybody has performed really well. Radhika Apte is bold and confident. Kiara [Advani] is gorgeous, innocent and shy, Bhumi [Pednekar] is so expressive.”

So how comfortable was she with her character (Reena) in Lust Stories ? “I am most conservative when it comes to my views. When Reena decides to have an affair it was natural for me to tell Dibakar that she should tell her husband and not go back to him,” she says. Shooting the film was a spontaneous affair and they tried out various scenarios. “[Reena] realises that the man she having an affair with is not interested in a future with her. Then there is the protective, motherly thing with the husband when he cried like a baby. She feels guilty. Reality is what Dibakar was wanting to [portray]. But I was saying no, she can’t jump so quickly. I wasn’t entirely convinced,” she admits.

In hindsight, Koirala feels the short works in its entirety. “Reena is someone who gets back [with] her husband but [while being] in her own command. He can’t call her his property any more… At the end of it we realise that she is the boss,” she says. The actor finds the loose end in Banerjee’s short interesting: “You are left to speculate. And you may want to see it again to find another layer.” But what would Koirala have done had she been in the shoes of her character? “I would have acted entirely differently. I have a stronger mind than Reena. I have always been independent and making decisions. If I had a husband like that I would have left him,” she laughs.

Change is constant

Koirala doesn’t believe in half measures, “My worldview has changed. In a way I am liberal. I don’t like loose ends. I want closures,” she admits. Koirala admits to thriving on feedback and validation. “As an artiste I am always nervous. I am not confident that I have done a good job. Till 10-20 people tell me I really don’t know,” she confesses. It could be a generation thing, I tell her. The younger lot is far surer than us. “I am a bit of the old school. Little reluctant, nervous, shy…,” Koirala agrees.

Plenty has happened for Koirala from the early days of her stardom in the 90s. In the time she took off to deal with her health issues, the industry changed drastically. “I am trying but not 100% there yet… I am constantly telling my staff to [guide] me. They are younger generation girls. They know.” Her strength lies in her work. Even in her heyday, Koirala wasn’t entirely driven by mainstream films and opted to work in offbeat films, “I do not want to be confined in a mould. I am free-spirited. I like to explore new areas. I am a gypsy at heart,” she admits. The actor is upfront about her lack of natural wisdom towards some film roles. It was the well-meaning people around her who showed Koirala the way. She recalls being reluctant to audition for Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s 1942, A Love Story one of her best loved films. It was her mother who pushed her for the screen test. She was in two minds about Mani Ratnam’s Bombay, as she was warned about playing a mother, in a South Indian film. It was cinematographer-filmmaker Ashok Mehta who fired her for her misgivings: “I was blessed with good people around me to guide me.” She has acquired that wisdom now. “I am very mindful about what work I am doing. I just hope that I am not overcautious,” she says.

Back in the saddle

Coming up next is a mainstream outing—Raj Kumar Hirani’s Sanju where she plays mom Nargis Dutt to Ranbir “Sanjay Dutt” Kapoor. Like Lust Stories it was also offered to her while she was in Nepal and she wasn’t sure initially about it. Today, she’s visibly excited about it. “It suits me perfect[ly]. I love exploring genres, from an arthouse experimental setup to a commercial one. Is playing a character from recent past, that too from the world of films hard? “Raj-ji had already researched a lot. I had to just listen to him,” she smiles. It wasn’t the physicality so much as the “soul and spirit” that she wanted to bring out. It’s not just about being Nargis Dutt but bringing out her maternal instinct.

Back in the 90s Koirala was doing 12 films at a time, three shifts a day and didn’t have dates for three-four years at a stretch. Now she wants to do roles that suit her age and work at a pace that suits her. She is also done with the metro life, wants to be by the sea, mountains, with nature.

“As soon as I get time, I go away and come back when I have work. Quality work with breaks in between is how I want the life to be. I want to enjoy life,” she states with confidence.