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In focus
Manisha Koirala has worked with the crème de la crème of filmmakers over the years — Subhash Ghai, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Mani Ratnam, Mansoor Khan, Rajkumar Santoshi, Rajkumar Hirani, S Shankar, and Dibakar Banerjee, among others. But the one director she didn’t work with, and regrets that till date, is Yash Chopra.
“As a kid, when I used to watch Chandni (1989) or Lamhe (1991), my god, I so wanted to work with Yash ji. I missed out on working with a legend like that, who portrays women so beautifully, so glamorously, and in such beautiful songs,” admitted Koirala.
Manisha Koirala also recalled how she turned down a film offer by Yash Chopra because of her own “insecurity.”
“When he offered me a film, I backed off because of my own insecurity. But I so regret not being a part of his cinema in the ’90s,” confessed Koirala on the Filme Shilmy podcast. While she didn’t name the film, it’s well established that Yash Chopra offered her the role eventually essayed by Karisma Kapoor in his 1997 blockbuster musical romance Dil To Pagal Hai.
Not only Manisha Koirala, but also a host of other actors were offered the part in Dil To Pagal Hai. After Koirala, Yash Chopra approached Juhi Chawla, but she also declined the offer because she didn’t want to play second fiddle to the leading lady, Madhuri Dixit, particularly after she played the leading lady opposite the lead actor, Shah Rukh Khan, in Chopra’s previous directorial, 1993 romantic thriller Darr.
Yash Chopra had also approached Kajol, but she turned it down too, given that she played the leading lady opposite Shah Rukh in the 1995 blockbuster romantic drama Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, produced by Chopra’s Yash Raj Films and directed by his son Aditya Chopra. Raveena Tandon and Urmila Matondkar also refused the offer, before it went to Karisma, who took it up and even won the National Award for Best Supporting Actress the next year.
Manisha Koirala also chose to play the leading lady in Mani Ratnam’s 1998 romantic drama Dil Se opposite Shah Rukh Khan instead of Dil To Pagal Hai. She’s been working on and off since then, but got a lot of recognition for her role of brothel madam Mallikajaan in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s period show Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar on Netflix India last year. But Koirala revealed she hasn’t signed on any project after that.
“I’m going to be reading two scripts. I’m keen to do those, but I hope the budget and other things fall into place because that whole setup is needed for me. But of course, I have to like the script,” said Koirala, adding, “I’ve said no to many films and scripts because they were not up to the standard I wanted to work with, and not really very exciting. Coming to Heeramandi, Sanjay gave me the freedom to say no.”
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