I'M MORE LIBERATED AS AN ACTOR: MANISHA

Manisha Koirala’s priority is the character; says she’s willing to sacrifice vanity, or look glam for a meaty role

Contrary to common perception that middleaged female actors get less work in Bollywood, Manisha Koirala, a cancer survivor, says that her 40s have been eventful and enlightening.

“I think I’m more liberated as an artist in my late 40s. I was having a conversation with Shabana Azmiji where she was saying, ‘As an actress and as a woman, we always want to look good. How did you become so carefree?’ I think the greedy actor in me takes over at times. Being a woman, I want to look pretty in every phase of my life... but I also love acting. If I have to sacrifice my vanity for a character that I’m excited to play, I’m ready,” said Manisha.

Having said that, the 47-year-old points out that tomorrow if she is offered a role that demands glamour, she will again work on her looks. “Basically, my priority is the character first. I have done my share of looking glamorous onscreen in many films.”

Of late, Manisha has fetched praise for her performance in Rajkumar Hirani’s Sanju, in which she plays Nargis Dutt, actor Sanjay Dutt’s mother.

“I was quite nervous about how people will receive me in a film where I’m playing the role of such an icon as Nargis Dutt... I’m still one of those who need people’s appreciation to know I’ve done the right thing. Even after spending a substantial time in the entertainment business, before the release of a film, I’m nervous,” laughed the Bombay (1995) and Khamoshi (1996) actor, adding that such nervousness also occurs on the first day of the shoot.

According to her, from her first film till today, a journey that has spanned 27 years, she has treated every film like her first film. “It is never ‘just another film’ for me. It is a new opportunity to act, tell a story.”

The actor also received positive reviews for the web series, Lust Stories, where her character is having an extra marital affair with her husband’s best friend. She says it was the first time she has worn a swimsuit for a film. “That was the idea of director Dibakar Banejee. He came saying this is how he wants the scene to be, and my first reaction was like, ‘Why? In my youth, I never wore a swimsuit in films’. Dibakar put his best effort and logic to convince me saying, ‘People haven’t see you in a swimsuit on-screen and that is precisely the reason we should do it.’”

Talking about the kind of roles that she will be happy to take up in Bollywood, she concludes, “I will wait for the right role instead of the typical ones... If I’m offered a meaty role, I will surely do it.”

Even after spending a substantial time in the entertainment business, before the release of a film, I’m nervous. MANISHA KOIRALA ACTOR