Manisha Koirala, who has been receiving rave reviews for her performance in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s recently released Netflix series ‘Heeramandi’, has spoken out about being “insecure” of her contemporary Madhuri Dixit. Manisha revealed that she had once turned down Yash Chopra’s film offer because Madhuri was playing the parallel lead in the movie.
Manisha was supposed to play the role of Nisha in Yash Chopra’s ‘Dil To Pagal Hai’ alongside Shah Rukh Khan, but she opted out of the project due to “insecurity”. The role was eventually played by Karisma Kapoor.
“It was my insecurity, foolishness, childishness,” Manisha told Zoom. “One of the biggest dreams of an actress is to shoot with Yash Chopra so when he offered me Dil To Pagal Hai, I should have grabbed it. I should have taken on the challenge. Madhuri ji bhot hi khubsoorat adakara hai aur mujhe unse inspire hona chahiye tha lekin uss time akal nahi thi.”
When asked about the reason behind her insecurity, Manisha said, “So many reasons. She was very beautiful and talented. I got insecure.” She continued, “Despite all the right things with Bombay, I almost said no to it. That would have been a blunder mistake. In fact, people around you feed you with insecurities. You are just 19-20 years old and given mother’s role which typecasts you. That was a psychological thing that if you were offered mothers’ role, your career was finished. I listened to these people. I regret missing out on a lot of films during this phase.”
Later, Manisha Koirala worked with Madhuri Dixit in Raj Kumar Santoshi’s 2001 film ‘Lajja’.
Recently, Manisha, who has been a fiercely private person, also spoke at length about going through several “ups and downs” in her life including her divorce with Nepali businessman, Samrat Dahal, and cancer diagnosis.
Sharing how she stayed strong through her divorce and battle with cancer, Manisha told Zoom, “Some people are lucky who don’t get so many highs and so many lows and have a very peaceful life. I’m also lucky that I’ve had a huge amalgamation of experiences. All I can do is hope that at least my outlook on life is not bitter. My work is on that. My work is what I can change and how I see life, like whether I see a glass half empty or half full. Do I perceive life to be traumatic? No. Whenever traumatic experiences happen, don’t I learn more about life? Don’t I become richer in terms of experiences, in terms of first-hand experience of such huge trauma?”
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