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EXCLUSIVE: Sanju's Manisha Koirala - I had a major crush on Sanjay Dutt
In an EXCLUSIVE interaction with Pinkvilla, Manisha Koirala, who plays the late legendary actress Nargis Dutt spoke candidly about her childhood crush on Sanjay Dutt, his ecstatic reaction to her Nargis ji's look and the paradigm shift when it comes to women in Bollywood.
Manisha Koirala is amongst those crop of the 90's evergreen leading ladies who starred in some of the most memorable movies with impeccable performances such as 1942: A Love Story, Akele Hum Akele Tum, Bombay, Khamoshi: The Musical, Dil Se.. and Mann.
However, her tryst with cancer kept her on the down low but like a phoenix, Manisha rose from the ashes and fought the battle with a smile on her face before finally healing.
Coming back into the world of Bollywood, the actress will be seen essaying the role of the late legendary actress and Sanjay Dutt's mother Nargis Dutt in his biopic titled Sanju, who too was diagnosed with cancer but succumbed to her illness at a very young age.
In an EXCLUSIVE tête-à-tête with Pinkvilla, we asked Manisha if she relived any bittersweet memories from when she was suffering from cancer while shooting for a few specific scenes in Sanju. To this, Manisha shared, "I was a little scared to be precise. I was very nervous and I actually tried to block my memories of that. Luckily for me, I didn't have too many scenes for that so I tried to keep that memory at bay."
When the poster featuring Manisha as Nargis ji smiling over Sanju, played by Ranbir Kapoor, came out, everyone could not stop raving about the uncanny resemblance. However, no one was more shocked than Sanjay, himself. We were shooting in Lucknow for Prasthanam and that time the poster had released. He saw the poster and said, 'Manisha, what a resemblance man! Such a good resemblance,'" Koirala humbly recalled.
Talking about the overall response, Manisha gushed, "I was extremely happy. I'm a person who is nervous until I start getting feedback because all my life, I have been like that. I got a great feedback. People, who loved the songs and the posters. I felt a hue of relief but until then, I was a nervous wreck."
Manisha and Sanjay have worked in various films like Kartoos, Baaghi, Achanak, Khauff and Mehbooba. As they have known each other for decades, we asked Manisha on the changes she sees in Sanju and the actress was all praises for him.
"He was always a boss. As a child when I was in school, I was his fan. He was the only actor ever, that I was a fan of. As a child growing up, I had a major crush on him. Then, I got to work with him. He, in fact, teased me during one of my shoots saying, 'Why don't you have a crush on me now?' So I said, 'Now, you are my colleague. There's no messing around there.' We just laughed it off. I've always have had a fondness and warm feelings for him. I have known him over the years - we have done five or six movies, and he has been the person who is totally all heart. He trusts people and sometimes he can trust wrong people and that would lead him into trouble. He's all heart and kind. Now that I see him, he has gone through so much in his life. He's gone through so much of unimaginable pain and struggle. I see that it has been made him a far stronger person. He was always loving, there's no change for that. He's kind, which was always there - that's not changed. He has become a much superior actor also. There is a kind of inner strength which I see in him now," Manisha candidly revealed.
Did she take any advice from Sanjay since she was playing his mother in Sanju? Manisha shared, "Not really because one Sanju had given a full free hand to Raju sir and secondly when a director is telling a story or making a film, he has a complete picture of each and every actor's entire language, emotional graphs and everything. I didn't want to confuse that. I wanted to go completely on par with what his expectation was. The only person that I went and kept listening to is Rajkumar Hirani. It so happened that we did one scene, then he added another one. It is a small role. It's a guest appearance. It was meant to be much smaller but after shooting with me, he said, 'Let's that also. Can we do this also?' to which I said, 'More than happy.' (laughs) Then ultimately, he asked if we could do a song and I said, 'Sure, sir. It's a pleasure to work with you and it's a pleasure to be a part of such a beautiful film.'"
In 2018, there has been a major paradigm shift when it comes to women-oriented movies. When we quizzed Manisha on whether she sees tremendous changes for actresses in Bollywood as opposed to the 90's, the actress stated, "Absolutely! Now, there is a shift and we are making movies. If you've seen Lust Stories, it is about female sexuality. It is critically acclaimed and people are liking it. It is a time where women are being noticed. They are coming in their full power and position. But, the road has just begun. It's still not reached there and we must keep on supporting each other, patting each other's back and be there for each other untill we win the race because I feel it has just begun. We shouldn't become complacent. the journey has just begun."
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