Catfights are pretty common in the entertainment world and Bollywood has witnessed some of the most high-octane tiffs over dating the same guys and something similar occurred between Aishwarya Rai and Manisha Koirala in the 90s.
For those unaware, Aishwarya Rai and Rajeev Mulchandani started their modelling careers together and reports suggest that the two were dating each other. However, Aishwarya had always maintained that she and Rajeev were good friends and nothing beyond it.
However, a report stated that Rajeev had dumped Aishwarya Rai for actress, Manisha Koirala.
Unfortunately, this did not go well with Aishwarya, and she confronted Rajeev for the same. In an interview with Showtime Magazine, Aishwarya talked about it and said: “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.”
During the same interview, Aishwarya shared how Manisha had falsely accused her, leaving her completely shocked.
Elaborating on the same, Aishwarya said, “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?”
Aishwarya also stated that she was very much affected by the accusations laid by Manisha on her.
Revealing how she cried like crazy for being bracketed, Aishwarya said: “This Manisha episode really affected me a lot in the beginning. I cried like crazy. I was really hurt miserably with all that was happening around me. 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.”
Aishwarya concluded her interview by stating that Manisha kept bringing up the same topic in the limelight again and again, but she has moved on. She also stated how the Criminal actress had been rude to Rekha and Sridevi too and retorted: “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 Rekha and Sridevi, so who’s Aishwarya Rai? Her conduct only reflects her poor personality.”
Image Source: SpotboyE