Manisha B Koirala was born on 16th August 1970 in Kathmandu Nepal. Her family is one of the leading political parties in Nepal. Bishweshwar Prasad Koirala who was the Prime Minister of Nepal is her grandfather. Her uncles Girija Prasad Koirala and M.P.Koirala were also Prime Ministers. She has a brother Siddharth Koirala, an actor.
She did her schooling in India at the Army Public School in New Delhi and Vasant Kanya Mahavidhyalaya in Varanasi.
She is an ambassador for UNFPA and is vocal about the causes she fights for like women’s rights.
Manisha Koirala started her cinematic journey with a 1989 release Nepali film, Pheri Bhetaula. She plunged into bollywood with Subhash Ghai’s family drama ‘Saudagar’ opposite Vivek Mushran. The film became a box office hit and Manisha was flooded with film offers. In her debut film, Manisha got an opportunity to work with veteran actors Dilip Kumar and Rajkumar. Manisha was next seen in a series of flop films like ‘First Love Letter’, ‘Yalgaar’, ‘Insaaniyat ke Devta’, ‘Anmol’, ‘Dhanwan’, ‘Sangdil Sanam’ etc. Manisha’s pioneering performance was seen in her consecutive blockbuster hit films, Vidhu Vinod Chopra's ‘1942: A Love Story’ and Mani Ratnam's Tamil film ‘Bombay ‘, which was also dubbed in Hindi. Vidhu Vinod Chopra's ‘1942: A Love Story’ won five Filmfare awards and became a mega hit. Manisha Koirala received her first Filmfare Best Actress nomination for ‘1942: A Love Story’.
National Film Award winner ‘Bombay’, based on the Bombay riots of 1993 was screened at a number of international film festivals. The critically acclaimed film ‘Bombay’ became the turning point for Manisha Koirala’s career, earning her the Filmfare Best Performer (Critics) Award, Filmfare Best Actress Award (Tamil) and Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actress. Manisha Koirala then appeared in a number of successful films like the Telugu film ‘Criminal’, Mansoor Khan’s ‘Akele Hum Akele Tum’ opposite Aamir Khan, ‘Agni Sakshi’ opposite Jackie Shroff and Nana Patekar, ‘Khamoshi: The Musical’ opposite Salman Khan, Tamil film ‘Indian’ opposite Kamal Hassan and ‘Gupt: The Hidden Truth’ alongside Bobby Deol and Kajol.
Manisha Koirala’s ‘Akele Hum Akele Tum’ earned her the Filmfare Best Actress Award nomination while she received Filmfare Critics Award for Best Performance and Star Screen Award for Best Actress for her riveting performance in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s directorial debut ‘Khamoshi: The Musical’.
Manisha Koirala is known for her consistency and genuineness of performance. Manisha has portrayed strong dramatic characters in movies like Mani Ratnam’s award winning ‘Dil Se’ opposite Shahrukh Khan, RGV’s ‘Company’ opposite Ajay Devgan, Rajkumar Santoshi's ‘Lajja’ alongside an ensemble cast, and Shashilal Nair’s ‘Grahan’ alongside Jackie Shroff. Manisha Koirala won the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Performance for ‘Company’ and was nominated for the Filmfare Best Actress Award for ‘Dil Se’.
Manisha Koirala also starred in blockbuster hits like Indra Kumar’s ‘Mann’ opposite Aamir Khan and Milan Luthria’s ‘Kachhe Dhage’ opposite Ajay Devgan. Her performance in low budget parallel cinema film ‘Escape from Taliban’ garnered the BFJA Best Actress Award.
