The beautiful Manisha Koirala has been through a lot in her life. She feels that her suffering has made her a better person and actor. “Of course, life’s experiences contribute to a performance. I now have a bank full of emotions. I understand life much more deeply now. I see through people. The complexity of human behavior is more understandable to me. There is an empathy that I feel for everything around me. Of course, I think that with time, the pain and suffering of life, I have become a better person. It doesn’t always work that way. Many people become bitter after suffering rather than feeling better. I never want to be bitter, resentful or vindictive. From a young age, my constant effort was not to hurt anyone. I wish I had been careful not to hurt myself. It was a conscious effort for me to maintain my innocence and vulnerability. I don’t want to be a person who knows everything,” she said.
Manisha Koirala on Heeramandi: “A very dear friend of the actress asked if Rekha dubbed for me.”
Manisha’s association with Sanjay Leela Bhansali goes way back. “I first met him during the shooting of Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s film 1942: A love story. Then Khamoshi, he directed. Then there was a long gap. Honestly, I’m in awe of the man. He has developed a lot. He makes grandeur look so cool. Not too many people talk about it Khamoshi Now. But the same topic was discussed in Hollywood two years ago (Sian Heders). Koda) and this film won the Oscars. Khamoshi is something very special: it is sensitive and poetic. Every character – Helenji, Seema Biswasji, Nana Patekar, Salman and me – was so beautifully written. He created a beautiful world Khamoshi. Heeramandi has so much grandeur. If Sanjay can have a very intimate conversation Khamoshi, he can also make an elaborate Heeramandi. His reach is breathtaking,” she said.
The Khamoshi The actress admits that she has evolved over the years. “I have changed a lot Subhash, I am not who I was anymore. Everyone changes. Not true? Me too. When I was younger, I was much more impulsive. I was very instinctive in my acting. It was almost as if God was leading me to do what the director wanted without me having to work hard. It didn’t feel like I was over-preparing. Nowadays I love preparing for my role. I don’t want to do anything I’ve done before. I could just imitate myself and be done with it. But no. I want to be an original, better version of who I was. At least I want to try to be different in every single film,” she said.
She reveals that she prepared extensively for her role as Mallikajaan in Heeramandi. “You must have noticed the change in my voice? I worked really hard on it. A very good actress friend asked me if Rekha had dubbed for me in Heeramandi. I was thrilled that she thought that. That meant I didn’t sound like Manisha Koirala. I worked very hard on my diction and voice modulation. Sanjay gave me a very good diction coach, Muneera Suratiji. All the Heeramandi actors worked with her. I worked with her to the maximum. I knew that my nukhtas and spoken Urdu were not perfect. I wanted my weakness to be my asset. And of course, Sanjay Bhansali was always there to guide and hold me back. He is a director who believes that God is in the details. His expertise was invaluable,” said the actress.
Manisha reveals that her dancing skills as seen in Heeramandi are genetic. “As far as body language is concerned, Mallikajaan was the huzoor of all tawaifs. It had to be larger than life. Apparently she had learned classical Kathak and Hindustani singing in her childhood. She reminded me of my daadi who was a Bharat Natyam and Manipuri dancer. My mother was a Kathak and Bharat Natyam dancer. We used to have great dance and music gatherings at home. Sitara Bua (Kathak representative Sitara Devi) came to my apartment when she was very old. She sat on the chair and danced with her eyes and hands. Pandit Birju Maharaj was my mother’s teacher. Chandrashekhar ji, a well-known Bharat Natyam dancer, was a family friend. So I grew up in an environment with classical dance and singing. I imitated the graceful postures of my mother and daadi. I tried to remember how they talked and walked,” the actress said.
Manisha created a backstory for Mallikajaan. “I painted a backstory of her mental landscape. She must have been scarred from a young age. You know, I was also inspired by Meryl Streep The devil Wears Prada, how casually evil she could be. She would say such nasty words and then casually walk away while her subordinates would be devastated. I saw too Peaky Blinders For reference. You don’t have to scream and make faces to be angry. You can be cold as ice. That’s exactly what I wanted Mallikajaan to be. Those were my role models. I don’t know how much I succeeded. Knowing how scarred Mallikjaan was when she was young and the fire she had in her belly to rule at any cost… The entire environment in the Kotha is such that women don’t have too many options. It’s a murderous world. Mallikajaan has many shades. I had to gauge her emotional intelligence and play her as a cold, evil woman. I had asked Sanjay to let me on the sets to absorb the universe that rules them. A few days before filming, I was on the sets and spent many hours trying to understand what it felt like to rule in this place. I recorded everything. With the help of my brilliant director and team, everything fell into place for me. Sanjay decided her clothes and jewelry, but I had to interpret Mallikajaan’s inner world under his guidance.”
Not all emotions necessarily come from a personal place. “As actors, we have to act and not necessarily go deep within ourselves to bring out the emotions. What I really needed was to understand Mallikajaan’s psyche, what her childhood must have been like, what her sister must have done to her, the fear and trauma… After her child was born, it was taken away from her. I had to understand what she was doing and why. I had to delve into Mallikajaan’s inner world. Their value system needed to be understood. She’s just not evil. She is also a mother. She has this protective instinct. But it will also throw out every person like a fly in milk. I constantly spoke to Sanjay to understand the character thoroughly,” said Manisha.
At this stage of her career, Manisha is looking for new challenges. “I want to play characters that I have never played before and I want to portray them with sensitivity and finesse,” she said. “I really want to do characters that are alien to me. Before I die, I want to play a character as effortlessly as Balraj Sahniji. He played a cultured man Anuradha and a rickshaw driver Do bigha zameen as well as. I want to be an actor who can play anyone equally well. Where people don’t see Manisha Koirala. You only see the character. I hope I get a role like this. But it’s out of my hands. I want sensitive directors like Sanjay Bhansali, Mani Rathnam and Vidhu Vinod Chopra to work with me again.”
Also Read: Rekha’s heartfelt words of praise leave Manisha Koirala teary-eyed: ‘My prayers have come true’
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