Manisha Koirala filmography

A photograph of Koirala smiling at the camera during promotions for her film Bhoot Returns
Koirala during a promotion for Bhoot Returns (2012)

Manisha Koirala is a Nepalese actress known for her work in Hindi and Tamil films.[1] Koirala's acting debut was in the Nepali film Pheri Bhetaula (1989).[2] Two years later, she made her Bollywood debut in Subhash Ghai's Saudagar, which was a commercial success.[3][4] However, she followed this by appearing in a series of films which performed poorly at the box office, including First Love Letter (1991), Anmol (1993), and Dhanwan (1993).[3] Koirala's career had a turnaround when she starred as the daughter of a freedom fighter in Vidhu Vinod Chopra's 1942: A Love Story (1994).[3][5][6][7] Her performance was critically acclaimed and she earned a nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress.[3][5][8] The following year, Koirala received the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress, and the Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Tamil for playing a Muslim married to a Hindu during the 1992–1993 Bombay riots in the Mani Ratnam-directed Tamil drama Bombay (1995).[3][8][9][10]

For playing the daughter of a mute and deaf couple in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Khamoshi: The Musical (1996), Koirala garnered a second consecutive Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress.[3][9][11] She followed this with leading roles in Agni Sakshi (1996) and Gupt: The Hidden Truth (1997), which were among the highest-grossing Indian films of their respective years.[12][13] She played a terrorist opposite Shah Rukh Khan in Dil Se.. (1998), the first Indian film to reach the top ten in the United Kingdom box office.[14] However, Koirala's roles in films which performed poorly at the box office, such as Dil Ke Jharokhe Mein (1997), and Achanak (1998), led to a decline in her film career.[3][11] She made her television debut in 2000 as the co-host of the game show Sawaal Dus Crore Ka with Anupam Kher. The show's poor ratings led to both Kher and Koirala being fired.[15] For her role as a gangster's girlfriend in Ram Gopal Varma's 2002 crime drama Company, she received her third Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress.[16][17][a] Koirala also appeared in the controversial film Ek Chhotisi Love Story in which she played a woman secretly spied upon by a teenage voyeur.[18] The following year, her portrayal of Bengali writer Sushmita Banerjee in the drama Escape from Taliban garnered her the Bengal Film Journalists' Association Award for Best Actress (Hindi).[19][20][21]

Koirala's career continued to decline during mid 2000s, as she appeared in less mainstream films.[22] In 2004, she made her debut as a producer with the film Paisa Vasool,[23] which performed poorly at the box office.[24] The following year, she portrayed Mughal princess Jahan Ara in the historical drama Taj Mahal: An Eternal Love Story.[25] In 2008, Koirala starred in Rituparno Ghosh's Khela, where she played a woman in a troubled marriage.[26] Two years later, she appeared as an adulterous wife in the Malayalam drama Elektra.[27] The following year, she played a Kashmiri Muslim attempting to restore a childhood friendship in Onir's anthology film I Am (2011).[28] In 2012, she appeared in Ram Gopal Varma's horror sequel Bhoot Returns as the mother of a possessed daughter.[29] Later that year, she took a break from acting after being diagnosed with ovarian cancer. After six months of treatment, Koirala recovered from the condition.[30][31] Three years later, she returned to acting with the psychological thriller Chehere: A Modern Day Classic (2015).[32]

  1. ^ Pradhan, Shirish (18 October 2009). "Manisha Koirala set to join Nepal politics?". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 10 September 2016. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference debut was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Cite error: The named reference myself was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "The economics of moviemaking". Rediff.com. 24 October 2002. Archived from the original on 11 June 2016. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  5. ^ a b "Manisha Koirala, 1942: A Love Story". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  6. ^ Rajadhyaksha, Ashish; Willemen, Paul (10 July 2014). Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema. Routledge. p. 183. ISBN 978-1-135-94318-9. Archived from the original on 21 April 2017.
  7. ^ "1942 – A Love Story". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 17 August 2016. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
  8. ^ a b "Manisha Koirala's 12 Most Powerful Performances". Times Internet. 30 November 2012. Archived from the original on 30 November 2012. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  9. ^ a b "Filmfare Awards: Manisha Koirala Loved That Ranbir Kapoor Touched Rekha's Feet". NDTV. 9 February 2015. Archived from the original on 11 July 2015. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  10. ^ Shaw, Tony (20 November 2014). Cinematic Terror: A Global History of Terrorism on Film. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 164. ISBN 978-1-4411-5809-3. Archived from the original on 21 April 2017.
  11. ^ a b "The Manisha phenomenon". Rediff.com. 9 April 2002. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  12. ^ "Top Worldwide Grossers 1996". Box Office India. Archived from the original on 22 August 2015. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  13. ^ "Top Worldwide Grossers 1997". Box Office India. Archived from the original on 22 August 2015. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  14. ^ "Dil Se – 1998". Time. 27 October 2010. Archived from the original on 5 May 2016. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference Sawaal was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. ^ Cite error: The named reference company was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  17. ^ a b "Shah Rukh, Ash, Ajay Devgan's rich haul". Rediff.com. 22 February 2003. Archived from the original on 11 December 2014. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  18. ^ Mahesh, Chitra (22 November 2002). "Ek Chotisi Love Story". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 26 February 2008. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  19. ^ "67th Annual BFJA Awards". Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards. Archived from the original on 8 January 2010.
  20. ^ "Escape From Taliban — A True Story". BBC. Archived from the original on 11 September 2016. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  21. ^ ""Escape from Taliban" author Sushmita Banerjee shot dead in Afghanistan". Reuters. 6 September 2013. Archived from the original on 30 June 2016. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  22. ^ "Birthday special: Manisha Koirala's dramatic life in pictures". Daily Bhaskar. 16 August 2015. Archived from the original on 1 July 2016. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  23. ^ Cite error: The named reference Paisa was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  24. ^ "We heard it through the grapevine..." Tehelka. Archived from the original on 17 June 2016. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
  25. ^ "'Taj Mahal' set for release in UK, India". The Economic Times. 23 October 2005. Archived from the original on 13 August 2016. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  26. ^ Cite error: The named reference Masand was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  27. ^ Nagarajan, Saraswathy (27 May 2010). "The 'Elektra' complex". The Hindu. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  28. ^ "'I Am Megha' is about the plight of Kashmiri Pandits: Juhi". The Indian Express. 20 December 2009. Archived from the original on 12 October 2020. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  29. ^ Kumar, Anuj (17 October 2012). "Manisha returns". The Hindu. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  30. ^ "Cancer-free Manisha Koirala follows strict fitness regime". The New Indian Express. 27 July 2013. Archived from the original on 26 July 2015. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
  31. ^ "I made many wrong choices earlier: Manisha Koirala". The Times of India. 22 February 2014. Archived from the original on 23 June 2016. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
  32. ^ "Premiere of Manisha Koirala's comeback film 'Chehere' with Jackie Shroff, Hrishita Bhatt". Firstpost. 21 August 2015. Archived from the original on 2 April 2018. Retrieved 21 June 2017.


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