“The Manisha Koirala that you see today is completely different,” smiles the actor when we meet her at her Versova home. “I find myself wiser, humble, and stronger in the sense that I can now take knocks and not fall,” she says about her newfound confidence after emerging from a difficult time in her life. The actor, who has been in remission (from ovarian cancer) for the last few years, makes her comeback with Dear Maya where she plays the titular role of woman lost in her own world.
Koirala credits director Sunaina Bhatnagar for, “creating a script which is original and intelligently written”. Koirala is not apprehensive about choosing a newcomer’s film to launch her second innings in Bollywood. “I remember doing Khamoshi: The Musical when others had refused. Sanjay Leela Bhansali was nobody then and probably none of the other actores had read the script. When I did, I told Sanjay that even if I were the third choice or the fourth choice, I would keep my ego aside and still do it. Similarly, it was Sunaina’s script that attracted me towards Dear Maya ,” she says.
Role-playing
Koirala will also star as Nargis Dutt in Raju Hirani’s biopic on Sanjay Dutt and will play the mother of two in Dibakar Banerjee’s Bombay Talkies . The actor will soon start shooting for the biopic and acknowledges that Hirani has done most of the hard work when it comes to researching Nargis’s life. “I am completely a director’s actor. If the director gives me the liberty and freedom, then I give my inputs. Otherwise, I just follow instructions. Similarly, Sunaina had sketched Maya out so well that everything fell in place,” says the actor who believes that her job is accomplished if she can bring realism to the director’s vision. In the film, the actor plays a recluse who lives a life locked away alone in a bungalow until two teenagers decide to send her love letters posing as a fictitious suitor. “Personally, I am nothing like that person. I am way different from Maya Devi but if my director can see the similarity in the character she has created and me, then it makes my job a little easy,” she asserts.
Koirala who made her debut in Subhash Ghai's Saudagar and went on to act in films such as Bombay , Dil Se and 1942: A Love Story believes that, “today’s times are brilliant for an actor” and a lot more meaningful cinema is being made than when she started out. The actor who is busy promoting her film believes that unlike earlier days, in today’s times, it is essential to market a film well. She says, “When so much sweat has gone into making the film, releasing it well is equally important. I want to be there for promotions as much as it requires because it is my commitment towards the project. But at the end of the day, it is word of the mouth, which is going to help the film.”
Second Innings
After coming out of her debilitating condition, Koirala now inspires cancer patients as a motivational speaker by sharing her personal journey. She discloses that being in remission has altered her perspective towards life. “I am grateful to this life now. I am not complacent anymore because facing death makes you realise that everything can go away at the snap of a finger. So while it is there, I want to enjoy and embrace life,” she emphasises. Though she doesn’t have a checklist to tick off, she believes that there’s now clarity in her life. “On one hand, I want to be successful and give my best to everything I do, but I don’t want to be too consumed by anything. While we chase our dreams and goals, there’s also a parallel life, which works on detachment, which knows this is not the end. There’s more to life,” says the actor philosophically as she talks about her spiritual journey. Today, she has a circle of friends who have helped her “live in balance”, something that was missing from her life earlier.
The 45-year-old actor acknowledges that in the film industry, it is puerile to expect strong friendships as nobody has that much time to invest. “In Bollywood, there’s so much ‘tam jham’, show and glamour and the element of looking nice all the time. Truth of life is that in difficult times, my family was my backbone. Having said that, there were some really caring and well meaning friends such as Tabu who came to meet me once I was back from the US,” she shares.
Koirala will soon complete five years of remission and is directing all her efforts to stay healthy. Her non-negotiable rules include going to bed at 10 p.m., a rule she had to break while promoting her film at popular sitcom Comedy Nights with Kapil . “They shoot only at night and by the time I got back from the sets, it was three in the morning. But once the cameras started rolling, I was enjoying it. I was humbled by the love and affection the audience showered on me, even after so many years. It was overwhelming. When I look at my audience, I think life has been kind,” she says.
