Manisha Koirala, who was already a celebrite back home in Nepal, wanted to move out of the shadow of her grandfather (the then prime minister of the country) to make her mark. Filmmaker Subhash Ghai roped her in for his film Saudagar opposite newcomer Vivek Mushran.

 

Despite being amidst stalwarts such as Raaj Kumar and Dilip Kumar, Manisha held her own. Some of her most memorable performances have been 1942 - A Love Story, Akele Hum Akele Tum and Agnisakshi came during the early 90s.

 

She made noteworthy special appearances in films such as Criminal and Kachche Dhaage. Some of her other work includes films such as Mann, Khamoshi, Gupt, Dil Se, Company, Market, Paisa Vasool and Tum.

 

She took a sabbatical for a while from films from then on. She as next seen in Partho Ghosh's Ek Second.. Jo Zindagi Badal De?. She also acted in her native Nepali-language film 'Dharmaa' after a gap of 22 years since her first film. In 2011, Koirala appeared in 'Mappillai', her first Tamil movie in 5 years. A remake of the 1989 film of the same name, the film saw her reprising the role originally played by the late Srividya, her performance earned her a nomination in the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress – Tamil. She was next seen in director Onir's critically acclaimed anthology film I Am, sharing the screen with Juhi Chawla.

 

Her latest release was with Ram Gopal Varma, Bhoot Returns, a horror 3D film, which was a sequel to the 2003 film Bhoot.