- By Tanya Garg
- Thu, 23 Jan 2025 11:10 AM (IST)
- Source:JND
Manisha Koirala has thirty years of acting experience and in fact, she has continued to work despite her cancer battle. The actress won accolades for her performance as Mallikajaan in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Heeramandi. The 54-year-old actress now talked candidly about dealing with ageism in the entertainment industry.
"Whether in the industry or otherwise, ageing is an issue with women. We get shamed. I’ve never heard any troll telling a male figure that he’s become old. But a lot of women are trolled. It’s like looking down upon the age. Ageism impacts women a lot more than it impacts men. I was sidelined by a certain group for a roundtable conversation. And the reason they gave me was, 'Oh, it was about a certain age group’. I asked, 'Okay, if the male colleague was also in the same age group, if my co-actor or older than me was part of the project, would he have done a good job? Would he also be secluded from the roundtable conversation?’ Not really, " she said speaking to Free Press Journal.
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Manisha Koirala continued by saying that she had witnessed something similar in two or three roundtable discussions when she was secluded due to ageism. "It does impact us. Suddenly, they don’t want to have older co-actors but they do mind having apparently older actresses," she added.
"We need to be torchbearers to show it to the world and to ourselves that, after 50, we can still rock. We can still lead a phenomenal life. We can still be good in our profession. We can still have a very happy, fulfilled and healthy life. As long as I'm alive, I want to work and I want to be healthy. I want to be looking good…that's my motto. Lots of people think 'Buddhi ho gayi hai, what kind of work can she do?' or 'Let's give her only a mother's role or a sister's role.' But women can do kick-ass roles. They can be badasses, full of life and fire," the Dil Se actress continued.
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On the work front, Manisha Koirala's most recently appeared in Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar. Sanjay Leela Bhansali made his OTT debut with the drama, which debuted on Netflix last year. Sonakshi Sinha, Aditi Rao Hydari, Sharmin Segal, Richa Chadha and Sanjeeda Shaikh all play significant roles in the series in addition to Manisha Koirala. Taha Shah Badussha, Fardeen Khan and Farida Jalal were other important contributors to the historical drama.
Talking about her personal life, Manisha Koirala married Nepali businessman Samrat Dahal in a traditional ceremony in Kathmandu on June 19, 2010. The duo split up two years later. In the same year, the actor received a diagnosis of ovarian cancer. Since then, she has kept her private life secret.
