Manisha Koirala to play Meena Kumari in bio-pic?

The coveted role of Meena Kumari in the bio-pic, produced by her step-son Tajdar Amrohi, may star Manisha Koirala.

The only hitch seems the tumultuous history of conflict she shares with director Shashilal Nair. They were close friends. She did one of her best films, Grahan, with him. But In 2002, the two had a massive fall-out over the content of Ek Chotisi Love Story. The controversial film Manisha starred in, and Nair directed was about an adolescent's wet-dreams about a sexy woman. Manisha accused Nair of doctoring the content and using a body-double to do the intimate shots. The matter got ugly and ruined their friendship.

Nair gave up films and this city and moved to England. Now Tajdar is bringing him back to direct the Meena Kumari bio-pic.

Says Tajdar, "I could think of only two directors who could be on the same page as me on this. One is JP Dutta, who is busy with his own film, and the other is Shashilal Nair. I tracked down Nair in Manchester. I wouldn't take a no for an answer or let him come later. He came back with me and we started work on the project immediately."

He adds, "I've zeroed in on a particular actress and she has agreed. Nair had problems in the past, but I am telling him to forget what happened earlier and start afresh."