Manisha Koirala, the Nepalese beauty is now receiving rave reviews for her performance in the film Sirf - Life looks greener on the other side after a long hiatus. Directed by Raajatesh Nayar, erstwhile assistant to Raj Kumar Santoshi, the film revolves around four couples played by Kay Kay Menon/Manisha Koirala, Sonali Kulkarni /Ranvir Shorey, Parveen Dabbas/Rituparna Sengupta and Ankur Khanna/Nauheed Cyrusi.  They all belong to different levels of the society and each couple has their own problems to deal with, but somewhere they all come across each other on the cross road of life. Manisha is playing the character of a lady known as Devika.

Talking about Sirf, Manisha says, “I play the character of Devika who is married to Kay Kay Menon. I own an ad agency. My character is very lonely because her husband is too busy with his work, but she is strong. She holds her own even when odds are totally against her. She is sympathetic and understanding too”.

Manisha asserts that though she is a strong woman in real life, she could not identify with the character of Devika completely. “Some places I do connect to the character. But the film is about vacuum in people’s life, how they would think that everybody else has more than them. I have never had that kind of misconception.”

When asked why she agreed to work with a new director, she quips, “I have worked with Raajatesh during Lajja. So I do know him. He is a very good and clear cut director. He has clear vision of what he wants. Although he had trained under Santoshi, his style of film making is very different. I think that Sirf is closer to Life in a Metro than any of films made by Santoshi. But because of his training and exposure Raajatesh has shown a lot of maturity in handling of the subject”.

Manisha confesses that she had a whale of time working with Kay Kay, Parveen and Ranvir. “While Kay Kay is an extremely strong but subtle artiste, Parveen is extremely expressive and casual about it. Ranvir is good. They all had their own style but Kay Kay is brilliant. He can enact the most intense scene without doing loud histrionics”.
Manisha is of the opinion that it is quite important for an actor to look good even when he or she grows older. “Looking good comes with the territory. We are in show business and face is our first impression. I am now associated with Yoga. It is also a step towards looking good!”

Manisha says that she is in talks with many makers for various international projects. “I choose my films with care. Chehra is on the floors. In this film I play the role of a complete diva”. After having dabbled in both acting and production, Manisha now plans to take up direction, though she confesses that right now her priorities are different. “May be in a year or two I will start direction too. But believe me, being an actor is the most blessed position because they are most pampered.”

Why have you shifted to realistic cinema? Don’t you want to do song and dance routine? Pat comes the reply, “Of course I do, but somewhere I started getting such roles. I am enjoying it right now, Sirf is very much mainstream cinema, with songs, comic situations and a popular storyline. It is a good entertainer. It is another thing that I have not done song dance routine in it”.

Manisha perks up by stating that films are not the be all and end all as far as she is concerned and she wants to hold the world in her hands. “I enjoy traveling. I love Europe the most. I try to take time off to go round the world, as and when I am able to sort out my time.”
Maharaja Features