Manisha Koirala reflects on her reunion with Sanjay Leela Bhansali after 28 years for his OTT debut, ‘Heeramandi’. Despite past collaborations falling through, she was surprised and delighted by his offer of a compelling character. Koirala embraces the negative role, seeing it as an opportunity to explore new territory and grow as an actress in evolving cinema. Sanjay Leela Bhansali today is known for his films like Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam , Devads, Bajirao Mastani etc but he started his journey as a director with Khamoshi: The Musical with Salman Khan, Manisha Koirala, Nana Patekar and Seema Biswas. But this was the second time he was working with Manisha as he was the song director for Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s 1942 A Love Story. And it took them 28 years to work again and it was Bhansali’s magnum opus debut OTT show Heeramandi – The Diamond Market.
Manisha Koirala and Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s friendship
In an exclusive interview with ETimes during the promotions of Heeramandi, the actress opened up about why it took them so many years for them to come together. She said, “We’ve been friends for years and we are very fond of each other. Though after the first film we never got a chance to work, there were talks of Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and Devdas, but it never happened and life took us in different directions. I was chilling in Nepal when Sanjay offered this part to me and to be honest, I was least expecting Sanjay to call me but he did and he offered me a beautiful character. It was a huge surprise for me.”
Manisha Koirala on grabbing ‘Heeramandi’
She further added, “I still see him as Sanjay, when he was starting out …a man who had great potential and passion for cinema. He lived for cinema and he’s the same Sanjay even now. He’s not really changed as a person, of course the perception of him and the kind of work he’s done is far more elaborate and far more bigger. But he still is the same man.”Manisha essays a negative role in the narrative. Shedding light on it, the actress added, “When Sanjay offered me the role I just decided to go for it. Cinema has evolved, the audiences have evolved and as an actor for me to do something different than what I’ve done before is like a huge welcome. I just want to keep on growing as an actor and for that I need to walk on unknown territory. So when ‘Heeramandi’ was offered, I just lapped it up and I wanted to give my 200 percent to it.”