Manisha Koirala On Why She And Shah Rukh Khan Didn't Work Together After Dil Se: 'Heroes Decide Whom They...'

Shah Rukh Khan and Manisha Koirala’s iconic film Dil Se, directed by Mani Ratnam, is celebrating its 26th anniversary. Manisha Koirala, who played the female lead, has finally revealed why she and Shah Rukh never appeared together again after the 1998 hit. In a candid chat, she opened up about her experience with Shah Rukh Khan and the reasons why they didn’t star together on-screen again.

In a candid chat with Zoom, Manisha, who was recently seen in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s OTT series Heeramandi, revealed that after Dil Se, they did work on a film called Guddu, but it’s not very known. Manisha confessed, “In this industry, the heroes decide whom they want to work with, not the heroines.” She seemingly hinted that SRK’s choices were a factor. Despite this, she proudly counts Dil Se, along with Mani Ratnam’s Bombay and Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Khamoshi and Heeramandi, as some of her finest performances. Despite its status as a beloved classic, Shah Rukh Khan and Manisha Koirala’s Dil Se didn’t do well at the box office when it first released. Mani Ratnam attributed this to his not-so-great Hindi skills, saying he had to rely on his actors to help get the scenes right.

Not long back, actress Mita Vashisht had slammed Mani Ratnam’s Dil Se, revealing how the director’s constant script changes left her feeling let down. Mita revealed she was disappointed with her role in Dil Se and was also misled about how big her part would be. She also recalled how they were not given the whole script. “They never told us the script before but Mani Ratam was like God. They didn’t divulge anything about anyone’s role except for Shah Rukh,” she said.

Mita also remembered that a major fight scene was cut from the film, and it seemed like the decision was to favour Manisha Koirala. She was disappointed to learn during dubbing that the scene was removed. “He was trying to cover up for his heroine. She should’ve done her homework better no? He should’ve told her to go to the gym and lose some weight,” she said.

Meanwhile, Manisha Koirala gave a power-packed performance in Heeramandi. She played the role of Mallikajaan, the chief courtesan of Heeramandi.