Manisha Koirala reveals how she was cast in 1942 A Love Story after initial rejection

After watching her enact a scene during the screen test for 1942: A Love Story, director Vidhu Vinod Chopra dismissed Manisha Koirala as a “terrible actress” but in no mood to give up, she requested him for a second chance the next day and the rest is history.

A gritty Manisha came the next day and after her performance, Chopra remained silent for long, as if in a daze. And then he said the words that were music to Manisha’s ears, “If this is the heart and soul that you promise to put into each scene of my movie, I will sign you up instead of Madhuri Dixit. Manisha, yesterday, you were at zero. You are at a hundred today.”

Manisha recalls this episode in her memoir Healed: How Cancer Gave Me a New Life.