Manisha loses case, her double says look what I’ve lost

Her screen name is Jessica; she is 18 years old. She acted as Bipasha Basu’s sister who get’s raped. And when she shot for four semi-nude scenes with actor Ranvir over a two-day shoot a year ago, she could hardly have anticipated Koirala’s outrage, the moral outcry.

‘‘How was I to know what a two-day shoot would lead to a year later,’’ she says. ‘‘After all, I had to do this for the money. The only reason I was comfortable was because my face and identity would not be revealed.’’ Jessica says she was paid Rs 25,000 for the shoot.

The shoot went smoothly, she adds. ‘‘The director (Shashilal Nair), Ranvir and everyone on the set were so cooperative and kind that I never realised what I was doing.’’ But she still hasn’t seen any of the scenes, let alone the rest of the film. ‘‘I feel very bad that Manisha is upset. But I haven’t even seen the preview. I don’t know how I have been portrayed. It is not my fault that Manisha has approached the court. But I do feel let down.’’

Her anonymity blown, Jessica now finds she has to explain herself to her family. ‘‘My extended family has been calling me all day, screaming at me for having done this. Where were they when my father died in an accident while I was in school,’’ she rages.

‘‘And what about my mother, who has been in hospital for eight months with cancer, who’s slowly leaving us? When it’s all over, I will go to Dubai, get married. I can’t stay here. The film world is rotten.’’