Heeramandi: Manisha Koirala recalls Rekha's reaction to her acting

Actor Manisha Koirala is receiving widespread praise for portraying the role of Mallika Jaan in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Heeramandi web series.

Bollywood veteran actor Rekha has joined the list of celebrities to have showered praise on the series and Koirala’s acting skills in the period drama, an Indian media outlet reported.

Recalling Rekha’s comments, Manisha Koirala said that the former called her the very next day after watching her web series and commended her for her acting skills in the Netflix show.

“I love her a lot (Rekha). She called me up the next day after watching Heeramandi. She said, ‘Bachcha, I was praying if I couldn’t do the role, you get to do it. My prayers have come true. You have done it marvellously, you have gone through so much in life. You have added soul to the role.’ To get a blessing and praise from an artist of her calibre is something else,” Koirala added.

The actor went on to call Rekha “a goddess”, saying that she is the most graceful and poetic, and she is a great artist.

When asked about Rekha being offered her role, Koirala said, “I believe so. She mentioned that 18-20 years ago, she was offered this role.”

Notably, prolific filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s digital debut ‘Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar’, explores the ‘stories of courtesans’ living in the red light district of Lahore, during the pre-independent India.

Along with Manisha Koirala, the eight-episodic web series also stars Aditi Rao Hydari, Sonakshi Sinha, Richa Chadha, Sanjeeda Sheikh and Sharmin Segal in the main roles, along with Farida Jalal, Fardeen Khan, Shekhar and Adhyayan Suman, and Taha Shah.

The show premiered on the streaming giant Netflix yesterday, May 1.

Compared with Koirala, Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s niece Sharmin Segal received flak from fans who thought that she got a part in the series due to nepotism.

Segal later disabled comments section on her Instagram account after she was trolled for her acting in Heeramandi.