Looked like an alien after chemotherapy

Actress Manisha Koirala says after her cancer treatment, she used to look like an alien as she had lost her hair. Now she is "quite kicked" to play late actress Nargis Dutt, the mother of actor Sanjay Dutt, in his biopic.

Manisha, known for her roles in films like "1942: A Love Story", "Agni Sakshi", "Saudagar" and "Bombay", was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2012. "I knew about my hair loss, but was not sure of my look. At times, after surviving from a disease like cancer... people's look changes.

All I knew was that I had to mentally prepare to fight it and I got huge support from my family. After my chemotherapy, I lost my hair, eye brows and lashes. Looking at the mirror... I felt like an alien," said Manisha. During her illness, many Bollywood celebrities including Salman Khan and Gulshan Grover reached out to her family to know about her health.

The film industry welcomed her after her cancer battle, she said. Sharing the story behind bagging the role of Nargis Dutt, Manisha said: "Though I wanted to get back to work, I was nourishing my body and focusing on my health as chemotherapy had damaged some of my body cells. I was in Nepal then, when I got a call from Raju ji (director Rajkumar Hirani).

He told me about the film and my character." So, how is she preparing for the role? "I watched a documentary. I am watching her (Nargis Dutt's) films again and again and talking to (daughter) Priya Dutt a lot to know how she was in real life, her body language, how she used to talk, smile.

I'm trying to get all the nuances right," said the Filmfare award-winning actress. Speaking on the changes in Indian cinema in the last five years, the actress says, "One of the positive changes is that the audience is accepting films on experimental subjects so, these new-age films are getting financial success.

It is no more those melodramatic films in Hindi cinema. So, filmmakers are ready to make films with different subjects." She is currently going through a look test and leading a holistic life to prepare for the biopic. She will start shooting for her part from May.