The Bahurani of Bachchan family had many high-profile relationships before she tied the knot with Abhishek Bachchan. One such man was Rajeev Mulchandani, a popular Indian model of 90s. In 1994, there were a lot of speculations about Rajeev Mulchandani dumping Aishwarya Rai for Manisha Koirala. Because of this, Aishwarya had an ugly showdown with Manisha.
In the March 1997 issue of Stardust, Aishwarya thrashed Manisha by saying "In the beginning of '94, a leading magazine came out with this 'red hot scoop'. Rajeev was supposed to have dumped me for Manisha. I called up Rajeev the moment I came to know about this asking what all the crap was about. Rajeev was a very good friend of mine nothing beyond that. I told him I didn't want to get roped into their love story. After two months, they weren't seeing each other. Manisha was seeing a different guy every second month."
Aishwarya added, "Time passed by and around '95 I'd come down to India as Miss World who was visiting India. That was when I saw Bombay in Tamil and thought it was brilliant. I'd reached Bombay on 1st April, and coincidentally, Rajeev called me. I was exclaiming to him about how excellent Manisha was in the film and that I was planning to send her a bouquet to congratulate her. At that he laughed at me and asked me whether or not I had been reading the papers. He informed me that Manisha claimed that she'd discovered some love letters that Rajeev had written to me. I couldn't believe it! It came as a very rude shock to me. I mean, if there was any kind of authenticity to this article, why didn't this piece of info come out in July '94? If that was the reason for her split with Rajeev in a couple of months, then why brood on it for nine whole months and then come out in the open?"
Rai went on to add, "This Manisha episode really affected me a lot in the beginning. I cried like crazy. I was really hurt miserable with all that was happening around. After saying so much she kept saying that she had been misquoted. After that split she had innumerable affairs according to the media, so why didn't anybody ask her why she hadn't come out with the info the previous year itself? I never wanted to be bracketed with any particular name. But today the media has played it up so much that if somebody takes my name, Manisha's name comes to mind instantly and vice-versa. Today, it's four years after that incident, but she still keeps bringing that topic up. It naturally means that all this is stemming from something else and not merely a lost relationship. However, I'm beyond this nonsense. She criticized even her seniors like like Rekha and Sridevi, so who's Aishwarya Rai? Her conduct only reflects her poor personality."
In the same interview, she added, "You won't believe this but I feel no bitterness or resentment towards Manisha. In fact, I hope she finds happiness soon. That sense of stability may make her feel more secure and calm her down in life."
Mannat Har Khushi Paane Ki
Veer Hanuman
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