Bollywood's famous actress, Manisha Koirala, has been leading all the headlines for her role as the courtesan in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's directorial, Heeramandi. While Manisha's magic is yet again cast on the Indian audience, not many know about her journey. She has been through a lot as she was diagnosed with cancer. Manisha never lost hope in life, and it is one of the reasons why she is back in the business and making a new fan base for herself with her acting prowess.
Manisha Koirala was born on August 16, 1970, in Biratnagar, Nepal. She hails from a political family, as her father, Prakash Koirala, was a politician and a former Cabinet Minister. On the other hand, her mother, Sushma was a homemaker. Her grandfather was Bishweshawar Prasad Koirala, who was Nepal's first elected Prime Minister. But not many know that Manisha spent her early years in Varanasi with her maternal grandmother.
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Manisha's roadway into films wasn't easy, as her family wasn't happy with her decision, but it was her grandmother, Sushila, who encouraged her and asked her to give her 100 percent. Then started Manisha's journey as model, which opened her path to Bollywood. Manisha Koirala made her acting debut in 1991 with Saudagar, directed by Subhash Ghai. She instantly became one of the famous faces in the Hindi film industry. Soon, she established herself with films such as 1942: A Love Story and Criminal. She has been in the industry for the last 30 years and had done over 100 films.
It was in 2012, when Manisha's world came crushing down as she was diagnosed wiht stage IV ovarian cancer. Manisha was in Kathmandu, Nepal lwhen she heard the news and was in complete disbelief. However, her family had history of cancer patients and hence it didn't came as a surprise.
Once in an interview, Manisha revealed that a Maori healer in Mumbai told her strange thing about her ovaries. Recalling the incident, Manisha stated that the healer didn't even touch her body but just felt her energy and told her, "You are very angry with your ovaries so you should send loving energies to it." Manisha. thought that it might because she wasn't able to have a child after marriage and tried IVF treatment, and when she gave up on the process, she might have become angry.
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The road to recovery wasn't easy, but Manisha gave it a tough fight. Once in an interview with the IANS, Manisha revealed that she had undergone hair loss, but was not sure how she had look. However, after she was cancer free, she was mentally prepare to fight it all, and her family helped. The actress stated that after her chemotherapy, she lost her hair, eyebrows and lashes. Every time she would look in the mirror, she felt like a alien.
Currently, Manisha is creating all the buzz with her look as 'Mallikajaan' in the Netflix's web series, Heeramandi, directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Manisha's character is unlike any character she had played in the past, and it was possible because of the director, Sanjay, as he had minutely taken care of every role. Recently, Manisha revealed that she had waited for 28 years for SLB to call her.
Manisha has lived a life filled with lots of setbacks, yet she conquered each and every hiccup!
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