Bollywood has always embraced actors of various nationalities with open arms. Manisha Koirala, who hails from Nepal, made the city her base decades back to pursue her Bollywood dream. Looking back at her journey, the actress who made her debut with Subhash Ghai’s Saudagar (1991), shares that India gave her immense love and she also got a lot of acceptance from the movie industry.

“I think the film industry has a heart of gold. So many actors have come here from different parts of the world and the industry has embraced them as their own,” she says.

Manisha further adds, “People from my home in Nepal would ask me whether I ever felt sidelined. I would say, that probably there were a couple of instances, but nobody can question the amount of love and acceptance I got here. At the end of the day, everything is about what you bring to the table. Are you a good performer? Are you a professional? It’s all about that. So yes, I feel blessed and lucky.”

In this phase of her career, Manisha is happy to see the opportunities that women professionals are getting in showbiz. Talking about the increasing number of women present on film sets today, she says, “I feel we have come a long way from when I had started. During that era, when I was shooting for Mann, there were women hairdressers, but all make-up artists had to be men. I specifically asked for a female make-up artist. Thankfully, later the rules changed. Slowly there was a sense of equality. Having said that, I still hope to see more women in powerful positions in the industry. We are still seeing stories through the male gaze, and I would want to see more stories through the female gaze.”