Manisha Koirala
opened up about the deep impact her battle with cancer had on her relationships and personal growth. She revealed that her
cancer diagnosis
led to several eye-opening realizations, particularly regarding the support system she had believed in.
She expressed disappointment at how some of her close friends distanced themselves during her illness, stating that only her immediate family stood steadfastly by her side.
“It’s been a journey. It has also been a learning experience. I really believed that I had multiple friends. I thought partying together, travelling together, having fun together, people will sit with me in my pain. That was not so. People are not capable of sitting with anybody’s pain, let alone their own pain. We always try to find excuses to not feel pain. We want to escape pain. That’s human nature. I found myself very lonely, and I realised that only my immediate family was around me,” she told NDTV.
Despite having an affluent extended family who could have supported her, she noted their absence during her toughest moments. “I also have a huge
Koirala khandaan
. Nobody was there. I have a big family, and everybody is affluent, they can all afford it. But it was my parents, it was my brother, it was my brother’s wife. And that is it. And I realised that when everybody leaves me, these are the people who will be with me. My priority is my immediate family, no matter what. They come first in my life, everybody else later,” she said.
‘I had my reservations about love-making scenes’: Manisha Koirala opens up about her ‘bad experiences’ with on-screen intimacy
Manisha
talked about the importance of therapy in coping with her diagnosis, acknowledging the immense help it provided in navigating through emotional turmoil. Her experience reinforced her prioritization of immediate family as she acknowledged their support during her health crisis.
Manisha Koirala, who was diagnosed with
ovarian cancer
in 2012 and underwent treatment in New York, also spoke about the ongoing challenges post-recovery. She admitted to struggling with maintaining her previous work pace and dealing with mood swings, a lingering effect of her battle with cancer.
“Impacted by cancer, I know how body and mind are intertwined. Even now sometimes I work in depression,”
Koirala
revealed. Currently, audiences can catch her in
Sanjay Leela Bhansali
’s debut web series
Heeramandi
: The Diamond Bazaar.