MUMBAI: Manisha Koirala has seen a resurrection of her career with Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s recently released magnum opus Heeramandi. The actress plays the character of Mallikajaan in this 8-episodic series who is the matriarch courtesan (huzoor) of her Shahi Mahal. It was recently that Manisha revealed that one of her points of reference was Cillian Murphy’s character from Peaky Blinders.
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Koirala’s character in the series is cunning, poisonous, cruel, and cold. But where did she get these references from? In an interview with Filmygyan, Manisha shared, “To bring in the realism, you can’t put the character in the box. So I had to figure out and navigate it. I think even after doing a few scenes, I was still in the process of navigating.”
Manisha recalled asking one of the assistants of Sanjay Leela Bhansali whether there was some reference to her character. The Dil Se.. actress recalled being told, “‘Manisha, watch Peaky Blinders.’ So I watched Peaky Blinders and picked a few things, especially the hero’s cold gaze. I said if I can get that it would be fabulous because personally, I have never come across anyone like Mallikajaan.”
In the same conversation, the 53-year-old recounted receiving a call from Rekha right after the premiere where she told Manisha, “Bachcha, I was praying that if I don’t do this role, you should do it. My prayers have come true. You have done it marvelously; you have gone through so much in life and you have brought life to the character.” Manisha Koirala further confirmed that Rekha admitted that this character was offered to her almost 18-20 years ago.
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This was previously confirmed by SLB at the Los Angeles premiere of Heeramandi where he had confessed envisioning his first set of cast to be Rekha, Kareena Kapoor, and Rani Mukerji. He then thought of making it as a movie with Pak actors Mahira Khan, Imran Abbas, and Fawad Khan. However, he shared that he is very happy and content with the final casting of Heeramandi which is available to stream on Netflix.
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Credits - Pinkvilla
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