MANISHA KOIRALA
OVER THE HILL AND DOWN L!

Sad but true. Success and she continue to make strange, irregular bedfellows. With her career-graph on a down-swing, and a none-too-impressive record at the b-o to boot, Manisha Koirala sure seems to have made heavy weather of her career. But all’s not lost yet, for she has a string of big-time releases coming up. Can the Nepal sensation pull off a miracle now? She simply must...Will they redeem her f

Success continues to play hide and seek with Manisha Koirala, the Nepali beauty Madhuri Dixit recommended to Subhash Ghai, for the coveted romantic lead in Saudagar. Apart from giving her a sensational break, it also gave the opportunity of working with two seasoned artistes, Dilip Kumar and Raaj Kumar. Why, oh why is success eluding this talented star while actresses who joined the ranks later have overtaken her and achieved spectacular success. Like Kajol, for instance. Or Karisma Kapoor.

And even as cluck-clucking detractors (their numbers are legion and growing) say there’s little more to her than a photogenic face, industry veterans, even those who have an abiding soft corner for her, point to her exceptionally well-begun track-record as an example of a career that has suffered for want of sensible management.

Her newly appointed secretary Amal Mehta, for instance, doesn’t seem to know for most of the time where Madam can be contacted. “I think she will be dubbing today,” he says helpfully, adding, “But I am not sure. Perhaps you could try calling tomorrow.”

Imagine the predicament of filmmakers who would approach Mehta for dates.

Not very long ago, Manisha had assured us in an interview that she was more than serious about reaching her goal - that wonderful position at the top. And to attain that she had brought about a change in her approach to work. She would give more of herself to her work, and to her roles. As an example, she had cited Grahan, the film inordinately delayed for various reasons, in which she has one of the more challenging roles of her career.

“To look pale and harassed and mentally deranged for some of the scenes in the film I had to work with my make-up artiste and evolve from within for days together,” she had said.

Sure, she can be a dedicated actress when she wants to. As in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Khamoshi which fetched her the Screen-Videocon Award for Best Actress in 1997. But a career doesn’t move on a couple of efforts.

And it isn’t as if luck wasn’t on her side. Just when the industry had almost written her off, following a spate of flops like First Love Letter, Dhanwan and Milan, Vidhu Vinod Chopra handed her a role on a platter — in 1942-A Love Story which resurrected her, and had several filmmakers, including Mani Ratnam, sit up and notice her sensitivity as an actress.

Call it gilding the lily if you like, but aided partly by Binod Pradhan’s amazing virtuosity with the movie camera the film presented her fondly and ever so beautifully. Indeed, never before and never since has Manisha set her fans’ hearts aching so much over her soft, cuddlesome looks. After all, she inspired Javed Akhtar to write Ek ladki ko dekha to aisa laga.

On the heels of Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s rediscovery of Manisha Koirala, came the second windfall in her career — Mani Ratnam’s Bombay.

Bombay brought Manisha back into the limelight in a big way. And she came up with a well-timed, sensitive performance as the riot-afflicted housewife, thanks to Mani Ratnam’s able direction. And Bombay, along with Agnisakshi later on, has been her enduring claim to box-office success.

Any other actress in her place would have capitalised on the fame that came with four acclaimed performances — in 1942-A Love Story, Bombay, Khamoshi and Agnisakshi — to pilot her career to dizzy heights. But with Manisha it was just the other way round.

The downslide that started with films like Guddu, Yugpurush, Achanak and Maharaja has continued with Dil Se... despite a commendable performance in the last mentioned.

Interestingly, Manisha’s among the few lucky actresses who have been paired with the cream of actors in Hindi films, including the formidable Khan brigade, only to deliver b-o duds with all. She had Sangdil Sanam and Khamoshi - The Musical with Salman, Guddu and Dil Se with Shah Rukh Khan, and Akele Hum Akele Tum with Aamir. With Kamal Haasan, she was paired in Hindustani, a hit in the Tamil version, but a non-performer in the Hindi version. And both her films with Govinda, Maharaja and Achanak were huge disappointments, too.

The actress sure has been in the news with her controversial utterances to the soundbyte-happy gossip press, and off-screen dalliances. But filmmakers who have worked with her complain they’re far from happy with her unprofessional work-styles and star-tantrums. They say she’s been careless in grooming her looks, even looking quite plump in films like Agnisak-shi and the just released Kachche Dhaage. Another demerit they point out, is that she still has two left feet when it comes to dancing. And that despite some of the best choreographers working with her.

Among the directors she’s worked with, she’s had more than her fair share of spats with the likes of Subhash Ghai. Yes, they did patch up later on, after she apologised, but Ghai is yet to cast her again after that. Nor has Vinod Chopra spoken of casting her again.

Call it coincidence or whatever you like, Maharaja took five years to see the light of day and the same can be said of Manoj Kumar’s Jai Hind. Both, if you don’t know, are Manisha starrers. Delays in completion of films, and poor box-office performances are bound to affect an artiste’s career inevitably. In the beautiful actress’s case it has played havoc. So much so that it has taken a brave Indra Kumar to cast her in his magnum opus, Mann, opposite Aamir Khan. The film has had brisk progress and is expected to be one of her major releases in 1999. Chances are that it will once again put her on a high if Indra Kumar’s confidence is any indication.

That’s one strong film against several odd films - Laawaris, Lal Badshah with Amitabh Bachchan, Manoj Kumar’s Jai Hind, Ajay Devgan’s home production Hindustan Ki Kasam, Ashok Mehta’s Moksha, Champion with Sunny Deol and Khauff and Kartoos with Sanjay Dutt.

Will they redeem her from the eclipse and resurrect her once again?