Vidhu Vinod Chopra Had Rejected Manisha Koirala For 1942: A Love Story; Wanted To Sign Madhuri

‘I Will Sign You Instead Of Madhuri'

Manisha came the next day again and gave her second audition for the movie, Chopra remained silent for long. And then he said, "If this is the heart and soul that you promise to put into each scene of my movie, I will sign you up instead of Madhuri Dixit. Manisha, yesterday, you were at zero. You are at a hundred today."

‘Manisha You Are A Terrible Actress'

Manisha wrote in her memoir 'Healed: How Cancer Gave Me a New Life', "I remember my screen test for 1942: A Love Story. Veteran filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra had called me to do a scene. But to my disappointment, at the end of it he remarked: 'Manisha, you were shit. You're a terrible actress.''

‘This Was Not Acceptable To Me'

"This was not acceptable to me. The warrior woman inside me had been challenged. I requested him to give me 24 hours to come back for a second chance. Back home, I practised my lines passionately, over and over again, until my mother became distressed at my state.''

My Mother Said, ‘Don't Kill Yourself'

"What are you doing to yourself? It's okay if you don't get this movie. Don't kill yourself over it," her mother told her.

For The Uninitiated

Manisha made her Bollywood debut with Saudagar in 1991. She took a break from acting in 2012 and returned to Bollywood after five years and acted in movies like Dear Maya and Sanju. Apart from the movies, she also did Netflix's Lust Stories.