Manisha Koirala, Who Battled Cancer, On Rakesh Roshan's Diagnosis: 'He Will Come Out Of It As A Winner'

Manisha Koirala at the book launch event in Mumbai (Image courtesy m_koirala)

Manisha Koirala, who battled cancer, said that filmmaker Rakesh Roshan, who has been diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma of the throat (or throat cancer), will battle out the life threatening disease and come out of it as a "winner". Speaking to new agency IANS on the sidelines of her book launch in Mumbai, Manisha Koirala said: "I can say only one thing that there is a way out. One should not give up because there is treatment available to this disease. I am sure he will come out of it as winner and I will pray to god that he comes out of it as a winner." On Tuesday, Hrithik Roshan shared the news on social media that Rakesh Roshan was diagnosed with throat cancer at an early stage and will undergo a surgery for the same. After his surgery on Tuesday, Rakesh Roshan in a text message said that he is okay and will be discharged on Friday. "I am feeling all right, thank you. Surgery is done and all is okay. God is great. I am going to be back home on Friday or Saturday," texted Rakesh Roshan to IANS.

Rakesh Roshan had a special appearance in Manisha Koirala's 1995 film Akele Hum Akele Tum, which also featured Aamir Khan. Rakesh Roshan did not have a full-fledged appearance in any of Manisha's films.

Manisha Koirala autobiography titled Healed: How Cancer Gave Me A New Life, highlights her battle with ovarian cancer and several other facets of her personal and professional life. Speaking of the time when she was diagnosed with cancer in 2012, the 48-year-old actress said: "When I was diagnosed with cancer that time, I was traumatised but when I look back, I feel it has given me new perspective to see life in a different light and lot of hope about many things in life. It also made me realize that how important my life and health is to me."

After her cancer diagnosis, Manisha Koirala took a break from acting and flew off to the US where she underwent treatment for the disease. After a span of four years, Manisha made a comeback in Bollywood with coming of the age tale Dear Maya. "I feel it was a kind of gift for me from life. Whenever we face any difficulties, we get upset about it but I feel difficulties comes in our life to teach us something that we didn't knew about ourselves. It gives something good in return," she said.

On the work front, Manisha Koirala was last seen in Rajkummar Hirani's Sanju where she played the role of Sanjay Dutt's mother Nargis. She also appeared in Netflix anthology Lust Stories in the segment directed by Dibakar Bannerjee. She is currently shooting for the Hindi remake of Prasthaanam, which also stars Jackie Shroff.

(With inputs from IANS)