Manisha Koirala is a Nepalese actress known for her work in Hindi and Tamil films.

Overview

Koirala's acting debut was in the Nepali film Pheri Bhetaula (1989). Two years later, she made her Bollywood debut in Subhash Ghai's Saudagar, which was a commercial success. However, she followed this by appearing in a series of films which performed poorly at the box office, including First Love Letter (1991), Anmol (1993), and Dhanwan (1993). Koirala's career had a turnaround when she starred as the daughter of a freedom fighter in Vidhu Vinod Chopra's 1942: A Love Story (1994). Her performance was critically acclaimed and she earned a nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress. The following year, Koirala received the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress, and the Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Tamil for playing a Muslim married to a Hindu during the 1992–1993 Bombay riots in the Mani Ratnam-directed Tamil drama Bombay (1995).

For playing the daughter of a mute and deaf couple in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Khamoshi: The Musical (1996), Koirala garnered a second consecutive Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress. She followed this with leading roles in Agni Sakshi (1996) and Gupt: The Hidden Truth (1997), which were among the highest-grossing Indian films of their respective years. She played a terrorist opposite Shah Rukh Khan in Dil Se.. (1998), the first Indian film to reach the top ten in the United Kingdom box office. However, Koirala's roles in films which performed poorly at the box office, such as Dil Ke Jharokhe Mein (1997), and Achanak (1998), led to a decline in her film career. She made her television debut in 2000 as the co-host of the game show Sawaal Dus Crore Ka with Anupam Kher. The show's poor ratings led to both Kher and Koirala being fired. For her role as a gangster's girlfriend in Ram Gopal Varma's 2002 crime drama Company, she received her third Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress. Koirala also appeared in the controversial film Ek Chhotisi Love Story in which she played a woman secretly spied upon by a teenage voyeur. The following year, her portrayal of Bengali writer Sushmita Banerjee in the drama Escape from Taliban garnered her the Bengal Film Journalists' Association Award for Best Actress (Hindi).

Koirala's career continued to decline during mid 2000s, as she appeared in less mainstream films. In 2004, she made her debut as a producer with the film Paisa Vasool, which performed poorly at the box office. The following year, she portrayed Mughal princess Jahan Ara in the historical drama Taj Mahal: An Eternal Love Story. In 2008, Koirala starred in Rituparno Ghosh's Khela, where she played a woman in a troubled marriage. Two years later, she appeared as an adulterous wife in the Malayalam drama Elektra. The following year, she played a Kashmiri Muslim attempting to restore a childhood friendship in Onir's anthology film I Am (2011). In 2012, she appeared in Ram Gopal Varma's horror sequel Bhoot Returns as the mother of a possessed daughter. Later that year, she took a break from acting after being diagnosed with ovarian cancer. After six months of treatment, Koirala recovered from the condition. Three years later, she returned to acting with the psychological thriller Chehere: A Modern Day Classic (2015).

Film

Key

†	Denotes films that have not yet been released

Year	Title	Role(s)	Language(s)	Notes	Ref(s)
1989	Pheri Bhetaula	Un­known	Nepali
1991	Saudagar	Radha Singh Thakur	Hindi
	First Love Letter	Radha Singh	Hindi
1992	Yalgaar	Meghna Kumar	Hindi
1993	Insaaniyat Ke Devta	Nisha	Hindi
	Anmol	Anmol	Hindi
	Dhanwan	Imli	Hindi
1994	Yuhi Kabhi	Pooja	Hindi
	Milan	Priya	Hindi
	1942: A Love Story	Rajeshwari Pathak	Hindi	Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Actress
	Criminal	Swetha	Telugu Hindi
	Sangdil Sanam	Sanam	Hindi
1995	Criminal	Swetha	Hindi
	Bombay	Shaila Banu	Tamil	Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Tamil
	Anokha Andaz	Reema	Hindi
	Guddu	Salina Gupta	Hindi
	Ram Shastra	Anjali Sinha	Hindi
	Akele Hum Akele Tum	Kiran Kumar	Hindi	Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Actress
	Dushmani: A Violent Love Story	Sapna Oberoi	Hindi
1996	Agni Sakshi	Shubhangi / Madhu	Hindi
	Majhdhaar	Radha Rai	Hindi
	Indian	Aishwarya	Tamil
	Khamoshi: The Musical	Annie	Hindi	Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Actress
1997	Sanam	Sanam	Hindi
	Gupt: The Hidden Truth	Sheetal Choudhry	Hindi
	Dil Ke Jharokhe Mein	Suman	Hindi
	Loha	Cameo	Hindi	Special appearance
1998	Yugpurush	Sunita	Hindi
	Salaakhen	Cameo	Hindi	Special appearance in song "Pichhu Pade Hai"
	Achanak	Pooja	Hindi
	Dil Se..	Meghna	Hindi	Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Actress
	Maharaja	Shaili Mathur	Hindi
1999	Kachche Dhaage	Rukhsana	Hindi
	Lal Baadshah	Kiran	Hindi
	Laawaris	Anshu Mehra	Hindi
	Jai Hind	Sheetal	Hindi
	Mudhalvan	Thenmozhi	Tamil
	Kartoos	Manpreet Kaur (Mini)	Hindi
	Mann	Priya Verma	Hindi
	Hindustan Ki Kasam	Roshanaara	Hindi
2000	Khauff	Neha Verma	Hindi
	Baaghi	Rani	Hindi
	Raja Ko Rani Se Pyar Ho Gaya	Manisha	Hindi
	Champion	Sapna Khanna	Hindi
2001	Grahan	Parvati Shastri	Hindi
	Chhupa Rustam: A Musical Thriller	Nisha	Hindi
	Lajja	Vaidehi	Hindi
	Aalavandhan Abhay	Sharmilee	Tamil Hindi	Simultaneously shot and released in Hindi and Tamil
	Moksha	Ritika Sanyal	Hindi
2002	Company	Saroja	Hindi	Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress
	Jaani Dushman: Ek Anokhi Kahani	Vasundhara Divya	Hindi
	Ek Chotisi Love Story	The Woman	Hindi
	Baba	Chamundeswari	Tamil
2003	Escape from Taliban	Sushmita Bannerjee / Sayed Kamal	Hindi
	Calcutta Mail	Sanjana	Hindi
	Market	Muskaan Bano	Hindi
2004	Paisa Vasool	Maria	Hindi	Also producer
	Tum?: A Dangerous Obsession	Kamini	Hindi
2005	Chaahat – Ek Nasha	Mallika Arora	Hindi
	Mumbai Xpress	Ahalya	Tamil Hindi	Simultaneously shot and released in Tamil and Hindi
	Taj Mahal: An Eternal Love Story	Jahan Ara	Hindi
	Anjaane – The Unknown	Shivani	Hindi
2006	Darwaza Bandh Rakho	Julie	Hindi
2007	Anwar	Anita	Hindi
2008	Tulsi	Tulsi	Hindi
	Nagaram	Cameo	Telugu	Special appearance in song "Hoshiyare Hoshiyare"
	Sirf....Life Looks Greener on the Other Side	Devika	Hindi
	Mehbooba	Varsha Mehra / Payal	Hindi
	Khela	Sheela	Bengali
2009	Do Paise Ki Dhoop, Chaar Aane Ki Baarish	Juhi	Hindi
2010	Ek Second... Jo Zindagi Badal De?	Rashi	Hindi
	Dharmaa	Gauri	Nepali
	Elektra	Diana	Malayalam
2011	Mappillai	Rajeswari	Tamil	Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress (Tamil)
	I Am	Rubaina	Hindi
2012	Bhoot Returns	Namrata	Hindi
2015	Chehere: A Modern Day Classic	Tarana	Hindi
2016	Game Oru Melliya Kodu	Maya	Kannada Tamil	Simultaneously shot in Kannada and Tamil
	Edavappathy	Sumithra / Mathangi	Malayalam
2017	Dear Maya	Maya Devi	Hindi
2018	Lust Stories	Reena	Hindi	Anthology film
	Sanju	Nargis	Hindi
2019	Prassthanam	Saroj Pratap Singh	Hindi
2020	Maska	Diana Irani	Hindi
2021	99 Songs	Psychologist	Hindi
	India Sweets and Spices	Sheila	English
2023	Shehzada	Yashoda	Hindi

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2000	Sawaal Dus Crore Ka	Co-host
2003	Larger Than Life	Herself	Documentary
2015	Femina Miss India 2015	Judge
2024	Heeramandi:The Diamond Bazaar	Malikajaan	Netflix release