Why didn’t Manisha Koirala become a really popular actress?

 Partly Inconsistent, Partly Bad film choices and partly unlucky

Manisha Koirala failed to give consistent hits. Every hit of her was followed by multiple flops. Her record in movies is pretty bad in terms of percentage of hits. She has worked in 64 films as a lead actress out of which only 9 were successful - Saudagar, Bombay, Agni Sakshi, Gupt, Kacche Dhaage, Company, Chhupa Rustam, Company and Ek Choti si Love Story. She was an exceptionally talented actress but she didn't even worked in proper performance oriented roles which could fetch her high critical acclaim. She could have survived longer had she done films like Bombay or Khamoshi in her later years. But rather she lapsed to B grade cinema which fastened her decline.

She was also unlucky because some of her best films failed commercially. 1942. A Love Story had everything from exceptional music to great production values and a patriotic backdrop and sensitive filmmaking but the film failed commercially. Khamoshi the Musical also had great performances and music but it also failed commercially (Manisha lost out to National awards that year because the producers failed to send the film to National awards on time). Her third underrated film Dil Se despite having SRK and outstanding music failed. Even Company did Average business. Had these films successful she would have been hailed as a great actress along with a big star.

Thirdly, one of the reasons why actresses like Madhuri Dixit or Karishma Kapoor or Sridevi were able to succeed so much was because of their successful pairing with other actors which gave them a stable career. While Madhuri Dixit was paired with Anil Kapoor, and Karishma with Govinda, Manisha Koirala couldn't establish any successful pairing with any top actor. In fact she has given flops with all the top stars be it Aamir Khan (Akele Ham Akele Tum, Manner), SRK (Guddu, Dil Se), Salman (Nischay, Sangdil Sanam, Khamoshi) etc. She was rumoured to have affairs with Nana Patekar (more than just rumours), Anil Kapoor and Jackie Shroff as well as directors like Sameer Malkan but none of that benifited her professionally

She further ruined her career in the early 2000s by doing glow budget erotic B grade films like Ek Chhoti si Love Story, Market, Paisa Vasool, Tum, Ek Second jo zindagi badal de etc. In these movies she did a lot of skin show and there were legal issues arising out of it (Manisha Koirala blamed the makers of Ek Chhoti si Love Story of using her duplicate to shoot a really inappropriate scene. She also tried to turn producer with Paisa Vasool which bombed very badly. She even tried to launch her brother Siddharth Koirala with the film Anwar (known only for its songs like Maula mere Maula mere) but that eventually ended up ending her career as lead actress. Even her otherwise decent films like Tulsi (remake of a National Award Winning film which was successful in all the languages it was made in, failed so badly that it earned only 85 thousand rupees), and I (National award winning film) failed miserably.

Lastly she missed out many good projects because of her schedules or unprofessional behaviour. Two plum projects were Dil to pagal hai and Biwi no 1. Both of those roles were done by Karishma Kapoor who reached the zenith of her career because of that. She also left Keemat after shooting for a days and was replaced by Sonali Bendre. And she left Hrishikesh Mukherjee's last film Jhooth Bole Kauwa Kaate over money. Even when she was working she was pretty unprofessional. For Sanjay Gupta’s Khauff she reported for a 7 pm shoot at 9:30 PM did her makeup etc till 11:30, shot for 2 days for a week schedule and went abroad leaving the set stranded.

Why didn’t Manisha Koirala become a really popular actress?

Manisha Koirala is a multiple award winning actress.

Popular : Manisha Koirala is among the well known actors of hindi cinema.

Her beauty and acting prowess attract many cinephiles.

Laurel : She has won five Filmfare awards in different categories.

She was also awarded by Nepalese government for her contribution to cinema.

She has also served as the Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)

Powerful : Well, she is scion of a powerful political family of Nepal.

Her four close relatives have served as the prime minister of Nepal.

Her father had also served a Union Cabinet minister in Nepal.

Private : Unlike many actors , this actress leads a private life.

Nevertheless, she is also a known trekker , a nature lover and a humanitarian.

Fact : Well, she is quite popular..

Pic Credits : Google Images / Web

What is Manisha Koirala’s first movie?

 Manisha Koirala made her acting debut with a Nepali film, Pheri Bhetaula in 1989.

Her Bollywood debut movie was Saudagar (1991) in which she was cast opposite Vivek Mushran.

The film also starred legandary actors Dilip Kumar and Raaj Kumar.

Madhuri Dixit saw a photo shoot of Manisha which was done by photographer Rakesh Shreshta and recommended her to Subhash Ghai. Further, Manisha went through several look tests and auditions and was finalised for the female lead.

Before Manisha, Pooja Bhatt had also auditioned for the role. Even Divya Bharti had given a screen test but Ghai felt that she was too young for the role.

Manisha was to debut in Anokha Andaaz (1989) but the film was delayed.

Also, her film First Love Letter (with Vivek Mushran) was completed before Saudagar but as Ghai was introducing the lead pair in Saudagar, Pahlaj Nihalani had to wait for the release of his film.

Saudagar also had Dilip Kumar and Raaj Kumar working together after 30 years. Both were seen together in the film Paigham (1959) where Raaj Kumar slapped Dilip Kumar too hard during a scene. Dilip Kumar was offended and vowed never to work again with Raaj Kumar.

Image(s) Courtesy: Google

How many screen tests did Manisha Koirala have to give for the film '1947 Love Story'?

 The name of the film is not 1947 - Love Story but 1942 - A Love Story.

Initially, Manisha Koirala had auditioned for the role of the lead character’s sister, a role that was eventually dropped entirely from the film's final script.

In her first screen test Manisha enacted a scene and was bluntly dismissed by Vidhu Vinod Chopra stating her as a “terrible actress”.

However, Manisha was undettered and asked for 24 hours to practice her lines and prove herself. She spent her entire day passionately rehearsing and returned for her second screen test.

Her second screen test was so impressive that Chopra not only signed her but cast her in the lead role of Rajeshwari Pathak (Rajjo) after Madhuri Dixit had dropped out from the film.

Chopra then instructed Manisha that she has to wake up at 4:00 am and sleep around 7–8 pm. His point was that both the superstars are in love with her in the film. She had to look beautiful and perfect. The audience shouldn't feel cheated.

Manisha Koirala's beauty was celebrated in, “1942 A Love Story”. Her luminious and innocent on-screen appearance became one of the defining visual highlights of the film.

Image(s) Courtesy: Google

When did Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Manisha Koirala fight over a man?

 Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has made all of us proud and she is very well settled with Abhishek Bachchan but during her initial phase of modelling and acting career she had a cold fight with Manisha Koirala.

Aishwarya was linked with Rajeev Mulchandani who was also a model, however Aishwarya later stated that he was only a good friend.

It all started in 1994 when Manisha Koirala claimed in a magazine that Rajeev Mulchandani had dumped Aishwarya Rai for her.

Time passed and around 1995 Aishwarya was on her visit to India as Miss World when she had a talk on this issue with Rajeev. Aishwarya was shocked when Rajeev informed her that Manisha had even claimed to have found some letters that Rajeev had written to Aishwarya.

Aishwarya finally thrashed Manisha’s false claims in the December issue of Showtime Magazine in 1999. She said that it came as very rude and shocking to her. Aishwarya also questioned that if there was any kind of authenticity in Manisha's claims, why didn't this piece of information came out in 1994.

The fight would have taken a ugly side but as time passed and the crowning of Aishwarya Rai as “Miss World” would have been the reason that she thought it was better to ignore the matter.

Image(s) Courtesy: Google

To what extent was the relationship of Nana Patekar and Manisha Koirala?

 Nana Patekar and Manisha Koirala starred in two films in 1996. They were Agnisakshi and Khamoshi – The Musical. Their off-screen chemistry and love affair had caught the eye of the public. To add to it Manisha’s neighbors also informed that Nana was even spotted leaving her house early in the mornings.

Both the stars were known for being short tempered. Above that Nana was said to be extremely possessive about Manisha and would object on issues like wearing revealing clothes or doing bold scenes. This heated their relationship and Manisha realized that even though she loved Nana she was heading towards a dead end.

Nana was living separately and it all ended when Manisha once spotted Nana and Ayesha Julkha in a closed room (reports also stated in an intimate moment). There were some harsh words for Ayesha. Nana wanted to mend the relationship with Manisha but she was not interested anymore.

On the break-up Nana once told to a leading magazine that, Manisha is the most sensitive actress around. She is like a kasturi hiran, (deer) she still needs to realize that she doesn't need to keep pace with anyone. She has it all and that's more than enough. He said that he can barely hold back his tears when he sees what she had done to herself. He also said that he has nothing to say on the matter today.

A break-up is a very difficult phase. You have to experience it to know the pain. He said he cannot describe the pain that he went through. The concluding lines of his interview were, “I miss Manisha."

Image(s) Courtesy: Google

Where was Manisha Koirala born?

 Though Manisha Koirala is recognised as a famous Indian actress, she is basically from our neighbour country Nepal. She was born in Biratnagar, a metropolitan city in Nepal.

She was born on 16th August 1970 in the famous Nepali political family, Koirala. She is the daughter of Prakash Koirala and the granddaughter of Bishweshwar Prasad Koirala.

Though she was born in Nepal, she was grown up in India, she spent her early life in her maternal grandmother’s house in Varanasi, studied until 10th grade in Varanasi and then she moved to Delhi and studied at the Army Public School.

When she decided to become an actress she moved to Mumbai in search of roles in films.

Before she made her Bollywood debut in 1991 with Subash Ghai's Saudagar, she made her acting debut in 1989 with the Nepali film Pheri Bhetaula during a break after her class 10. Manisha Koirala became the most successful and the highest paid actresses of her time in Bollywood.