Manisha contests the term ‘comeback’

After staying away from the public eye for five years, actor Manisha Koirala recently made her comeback on screen with the film Dear Maya. She will be seen next as Nargis Dutt in the untitled biopic on actor Sanjay Dutt’s life (where Ranbir Kapoor plays Dutt’s part). However, she herself doesn’t like the term “comeback actor”. “See, I don’t mind whatever people call me now. I’ve stopped wasting time on these small things,” says Manisha, who has battled cancer. She adds that as long as she gets meaningful roles, nothing else matters.

Manisha worked with some of the biggest male stars in Bollywood in her heydays as a leading lady, and she feels it’s unfair that when a male actor does a film after a break, there’s none of this talk of a “comeback”. Sadly, she adds, “that’s the trend all over the world”. However, she adds that the “times are changing”.

“I hope more movies are made for women and we also get equal opportunities, so that there’s nothing like a comeback for anyone,” says Manisha. She’s also glad to see that the quality of Hindi cinema is better now, compared to the time when her career began. “As an actor, I think the standard of filmmaking has only risen in all these years. Earlier, we had set formulas, so there was no growth in terms of storytelling,” says Manisha. “Now, not only is a variety of movies being made, but they also turn out to be financially successful. [Also] I’ve seen a lot of realism come into cinema in terms of performances; earlier, there was a lot of melodrama.”