Once a lover now a mother: Manisha Koirala to play Nargis in Sanjay Dutt biopic

The star cast for Rajkumar Hirani’s much-awaited Sanjay Dutt biopic has been finalised now and the recent one to join the team is none other than Manisha Koirala. The actress, whose last Bollywood outing was Ram Gopal Varma’s Bhoot Returns in 2012, is all set to make her big comeback with this biopic.

It is being said that Manisha will play the character of Sanjay Dutt’s mother Nargis in the film and this decision was taken by Hirani after talking to her about her journey as a cancer survivor. Since Nargis also lost her battle to cancer, Hirani thought that Manisha will be the best actress to play the character as she can relate to it and make it look realistic.

With Ranbir Kapoor playing the role of Sanjay Dutt in the biopic, Paresh Rawal will play his father (Sunil Dutt) and Manisha Koirala will play his mother (Nargis).

In an interview with Mumbai Mirror, Rajkumar Hirani confirmed the news and told that her journey of dealing with cancer is the main reason for casting her in the film. He said:

Manisha is playing Nargis ji. She’s a wonderful person, extremely sweet. We were thinking of many actresses. And while Manisha is really pretty and a fantastic actress, my primary reason for taking her is that she’s a cancer survivor and, having been through the journey herself, can identify with Nargis ji’s fight with the Big C. When we met, she told me a little about that journey.

Also read: Sanjay Dutt’s biopic goes on floors, likely to clash with Salman Khan’s ‘Tiger Zinda Hai’ at the box office

Also read: These 5 appalling statements by Sanjay Dutt on ‘life in drugs’ are lessons to take notice of

Apart from Ranbir, the film also stars Sonam Kapoor, who will be seen playing the role of an actress to whom Sanjay Dutt was linked in 80s and 90s. Anushka Sharma is also a part of the film and will be seen playing the role of a journalist. The role of Sanjay’s wife Manayata will be portrayed by Dia Mirza.

It will be interesting to see Manisha play the character of Sanjay’s mother on-screen, as we have seen the actress play his lover in many films.

Also read: Sanjay Dutt, we’re proud of the actor that Ranbir Kapoor is. He doesn’t need to be ‘macho’

Also read: 17 times Sanjay Dutt’s daughter Trishala Dutt proved she is a hot mess

Well, with such a prominent and strong star cast, Sanjay Dutt biopic is surely going to be a blockbuster. The film is scheduled to release on the Christmas weekend this year.