Manisha Koirala recalls getting sidelined because of her age: ‘Lots of people think buddhi ho gayi hai’ | Bollywood-OxBig News Network

Manisha reveals

In an interview with Free Press Journal, Manisha spoke about the issues that women continue to face in the film industry.

Manisha said, “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. I have seen this like in at least two to three roundtable conversations, I was secluded because of ageism. It does impact us. Suddenly, they don’t want to have older co-actors but they do mind having apparently older actresses”.

The 54-year-old actor also spoke on the biggest misconceptions that people have about female artists in their 50s.

Manisha said, “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-a** roles. They can be bada**es, full of life and fire. So many actresses before me have done that and I also want to do that. I still have fire in my belly. I still have a hunger to do more. I want to keep growing as an artist and age is just a number. 50 is just a number. And that won’t stop me. That shouldn’t stop anyone.”

Manisha’s career graph

Manisha’s first acting project was the Nepali romantic-drama Pheri Bhetaula. She made her Bollywood debut with Subhash Ghai’s Saudagar (1991), and gained popularity through projects such as 1942: A Love Story (1994), Bombay (1995), Agni Sakshi (1996), Gupt: The Hidden Truth (1997), Dil Se.. (1998), and Company (2002).

After a long break, Manisha made her comeback with the anthology film Lust Stories (2018) in Dibakar Banerjee’s segment. She was last seen in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar (2024), in which she played the character of a courtesan named Mallikajaan. The show depicts the lives of courtesans and their power struggle with Nawabs and British officers in the red-light district of Heera Mandi in Lahore (now in Pakistan) during the pre-partition era. The Netflix show has been renewed for second season.