Manisha Koirala opens up on her cancer battle: I felt I was going to die

Manisha Koirala recently reflected on her journey with cancer, sharing the shock of her diagnosis and the challenges she faced.
“In 2012 I was diagnosed, and I had no clue that it was the last stage of ovarian cancer,” she said in an interview with ANI.
Recalling her initial reaction, she shared, “I was very fearful, obviously, like everybody else, extremely. We were in Jaslok Hospital. There also, when the doctors came, the two, three doctors, the top doctors, and I spoke to them, I felt I was going to die. And I felt this was the end of me.”
Discussing her decision to seek treatment in the United States, Manisha said, “We knew some two, three known people, figures, we knew that they had gone to New York and done the treatment. And my grandfather also had gone to Sloan Kettering and done the treatment.”
During her five to six months in New York, she underwent a successful 11-hour operation and responded well to chemotherapy. Her mother played a comforting role, she shared, bringing along a Rudraksha mala from Nepal, blessed by Mahamrityunjaya, which she entrusted to the doctor. “So somehow, I don’t know how he (the surgeon) kept it, but he managed to keep it with him, and after 11 hours of operation, he said that this mala has done wonders,” Manisha recalled.
Manisha also expressed gratitude for her oncologist, Dr Vicky Makker, whom she described as “half Punjabi and American, Punjabi American,” and someone who gave her hope through her most challenging moments.
“There were a lot of times I remember I would break down and I would see only darkness… hopelessness and pain and fear. And she’s the one who kept on saying, ‘Manisha, you’re doing well. You know, your medicine is working on you,'” she added.
Reflecting on her recovery, Manisha explained how surviving cancer transformed her approach to her career. “I knew one thing, if I got a second chance at life, I had to go and fix the score because life gave me so much. And I felt I was the one who ruined everything. So I wanted to correct that mistake,” she shared. “I felt responsible towards my work… because there were so many fans I had disappointed by doing bad films.”
Her recent project Heeramandi became an opportunity to fulfil that commitment to herself and her audience. “I prayed that if I got a second chance, I really wanted to do the best that I could and not disappoint my fans. So I felt Heeramandi was that for me. I really put my every effort into that,” she added.
Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Heeramandi, released on Netflix on May 1. Apart from Manisha, the series also features Aditi Rao Hydrai, Shekhar Suman, Richa Chadha, Sanjeeda Sheikh, and various others. Heeramandi was well-received bu the audience.