After Maska, Manisha Koirala To Take Up Golf

For the  first time in her career the very  beautiful  Manisha  Koirala  plays  a Parsi woman in  a new Netflix film called Maska. The  title comes  from the  beloved pao-maska (buttered bread) that  is  a patent  snack at Irani cafes.

Says Manisha excitedly, “When director Neeraj Udhwani told me about  Maska, I  immediately knew this is what I want to be in .My career  policy now is to do only good work, or otherwise  not take up any acting offers. It’s not as if my life  and livelihood deepend on acting. There are so  many other  activities I enjoy, gardening,reading, meditation, travelling.”

Travelling  of course is at the moment a  no-no.

“We are  all grounded, thanks to the virus. It is a reminder  of  how much we need  to take care of our environment and  personal health. Right now I am at home in Mumbai with my parents.The  only thing that  my  illness(Manisha went through cancer treatment) taught me  was  to love myself,  to take care of my health.So  yes, no travelling right now. I wanted to go to my home Nepal to learn  golf. I feel golf is  so close to  Nature, those  long stetches  of greenery , they put you  in direct  touch with Nature,” sighs  Manisha.

At  the  moment the  fabulous actress who regaled us  with her performances in Sanjay Bhansali’s Khamoshi: The Musical, Mani Ratnam’s Bombay and Dil Se and Mansoor Khan’s  Akele Hum Akel Tum, is  looking forward  to the release  of Maska.

“It’s  the first time I am  playing a Parsee woman. I loved my role of a woman who would not lose hold of her  cultural history  even  if she has to fight her own soul.So much of our culture is being sacrificed  to globalization,”  laments Manisha who says she is fully committed to a better more humane and healthy world.

She feels the OTT platform is important but  no replacement for the  movie-theatre experience. “It may  feel like the OTT is a substitute specially at this  time when the world is confined  indoors. Of course  the OTT  platform is important. I  did  a segment  of  Lust Stories with Dibakar Banerjee and I’ve another  film with  Dibakar  coming up later  during the year. At  the moment  I am looking forward to  audiences’ response to Maska.A platform like Netflix has such a worldwide reach.”

As far the OTT platform replacing the movie-theatre experience is concerned Manisha feels that experience is irreplaceable.  “The joy and thrill of slipping into a  movie theatre alone with  your popcorn  to watch a  good film is unique.”

Why alone? “Because I  remain blissfully single,” says Manisha who is now  writing another  book after her motivational  book on good health.