'I'm nervous about marriage': Manisha

‘I’m nervous about marriage’, says the bohemian Manisha Koirala who ties the knot in Kathmandu on June 19. The bohemian Manisha Koirala is getting married. Yes, finally! At 40, and after a string of broken relationships and two near marriages — in 2001, to the Australian ambassador to Nepal, Crispin Conroy, and last year, to American inspirational author Christopher Dorris. The Koirala family, which is the Gandhis and Kennedys of Nepal, have found a suitable groom for the on-and-off Bollywood actress in local businessman Samrat Dahal. He has a leather business in Kathmandu with offices in Kolkata, Delhi, Chennai, Agra and Kanpur. They have fixed June 19 as the wedding date. And everybody is happy, especially Manisha. “You could say it was a semi-arranged marriage,” she smiles, still beautiful despite the age lines and crows feet that mark her years.

The couple met through friends a few months back and realised that they both wanted the same things — to settle down in life and get married. They got their parents involved and it all worked out. “So ours is a semi-love, semiarranged marriage,” explains the actress who has three films releasing this year in Do Paise Ki Dhoop — Char Ane Ki Barish, Chehere, and Ek Second — Jo Zindagi Badal De. She’s also doing a Telugu film and will return to Nepali cinema after two decades with a film called Dharma later this year. Beau Samrat, however, is a non-filmi person. “He is a nice person, simple, endearing, an intellectual and a workaholic,” says Manisha.

She thinks he may have seen her in 1942 — A Love Story, but to give Samrat an idea that Bollywood was not just fun and glamour, she invited him onto the sets. “He saw me act and realised that there is a lot of hard work involved,” says Manisha. Work apart, what was also important to the Nepali actress who has been away from family and home, was that Samrat got to know and like her friends in Mumbai. So she brought him down. “My friends loved him. Once he met them, all his apprehensions disappeared. We all bonded very well,” she says happily.

She’s a bundle of nerves as the wedding date draws near. “I am super excited but a little nervous as well,” admits Manisha despite the many relationships she has had in the past. “I have had my phases. But now it has to be family,” she states when asked about her past. At this point, the actress does not know whether they will settle in Mumbai, Kathmandu or even New York, but she is sure that she will continue working for Bollywood. “I have had a very fulfiling career and have worked with the best talents in the industry... and I want to continue my work. Samrat is not the interfering kind. He has encouraged me to continue. After the wedding, I will return to Mumbai in August. I am working on a few interesting films one of which is based on Mayawati,” she adds.