Veteran actress Manisha Koirala, who was recently seen in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s film ‘Heeramandi’, recently spoke about an early incident in her career when a renowned photographer asked her to pose in a two-piece bikini.

Although she often wears bikini while swimming, she did not consider it necessary for the photoshoot and refused. FilmfareShe said, “Very early in my career I was asked by a very famous photographer to take pictures. I went with my mother and initially he said, ‘You are the next superstar.’ Then he brought a two-piece bikini and asked me to wear it. I told him, ‘Sir, I wear this when I go to the beach or go swimming, but if I have to go like this to get into films, I don’t want it and I won’t wear it.'”

After knowing her attitude, the photographer scolded her. She recalled, “I told him either you take a photo of me fully clothed or I will get fully clothed. He gave me a big dialogue, ‘How to make a statue of clay which is shy of melting ‘How can I make a statue from clay that refuses to melt?’ I have not forgotten this.

Manisha admitted that some people had a similar mindset in the 90s. She also recalled that the same photographer took her pictures towards the end of her career, when she had become a big star, and he immediately took back his words and said, “Oh, I knew you were going to be a big star.”

Though Manisha was not happy with his behaviour, she also understood his point of view, “One should not have behaved badly towards that person, but it was his conscience. His experience was like that, so he behaved like that,” she said.

Manisha played the pivotal role of Malikajaan in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s debut web show Heeramandi and garnered a lot of praise for her performance. Before the web show, she starred in Kartik Aaryan’s Shehzada in 2023.