When Sunil Dutt saw shades of Nargis in Manisha Koirala

Manisha Koirala is playing the important character of actress Nargis in Rajkumar Hirani’s biopic on Sanjay Dutt. The late actress was Dutt’s mother. During an interaction for her upcoming film Dear Maya, Koirala said she regrets not having met Nargis ever. 

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However, she revealed an interesting incident when Sunil Dutt, Nargis’s husband, felt she resembled the late star. "Dutt saw Bombay (1995) at the Ajanta preview theatre. After watching the film, he called my mom and said this girl [Koirala] has shades of Nargis in her. My mom was stunned, but he said, I am telling you, she has a spark. My mother remembers all these things and tells me,” said Koirala, adding that her favourite Nargis film is Shree 420 (1955). 

That’s not all. Nargis had a good rapport with Koirala’s grandfather, Bishweshwar Prasad Koirala, who was once prime minister of Nepal. “When Nargisji was in New York getting treated for cancer, my grandfather was also in the same city. Even he was suffering from cancer. They used to exchange notes. Nargisji said in one note, ‘You should live, BP, because your country needs you’,” she recalled.

Koirala said Nargis could not watch her son on screen ever. “Nargisji wanted to live and see Sanjay Dutt’s Rocky (1981). She always wanted to see her son [on the big screen]. She had said she wanted to live and be all right for her son,” she added. 

Asked about the research she and the makers did for her role as Nargis, Koirala said Hirani made her view a documentary on the late actress. “I have done my work. Now let’s see what happens,” she said.

Koirala is now eager to get a full-fledged role with Hirani. “I am happy with this year’s work. But I am slightly more greedy. In Raju sir’s film it’s a special appearance. I would want to do a full-fledged role with him. I guess it’s never enough,” she said.