‘My biceps and my body was overshadowing Manisha Koirala’: Mita Vashisht on Mani Ratnam altering semi-naked scene in 'Dil Se'

Mita Vashisht, Manisha Koirala Pic/Instagram

It's been over two decades since ‘Dil Se..' was released. The Mani Ratnam directorial starring Shah Rukh Khan and Manisha Koirala, also marked the Bollywood debut of Preity Zinta. It also featured seasoned actor Mita Vashisht, who has taken potshots at the director and Koirala for altering scenes and the script to suit its lead pair. In an interview with Lallantop, Mita recalled shooting a semi-naked scene with Manisha, which was changed since her physique overshadowed that of the latter.

She said, "Mani Ratman kept changing the script. I trained, lifted dumbles, and built biceps because my character is a trained killer. There is a scene where I am helping Manisha wear a bomb vest. In that scene, Manisha's body is bare but I am wearing full-sleeved clothes. Originally, the scene wasn't written like that."

"I was supposed to help Manisha's character wear a similar jacket. In some way, we are semi-naked) and Manisha's character becomes vulnerable. When Santosh Sivan gave the okay to the shot, Mani Ratnam called the costume designer Piya. Piya called me and said, ‘Mita, I have to give you a T-shirt.' I then hear Mani Ratnam shout, ‘Not T-Shirt, give her full-sleeved clothes that will fully cover her.' I then realized that my biceps and my body were overshadowing Manisha. She is a pretty face and she didn't focus on training for the physicality. Her character was a militant but she didn't work hard enough on her body to look like the part," she added.

Mita further revealed that there was an intense fight scene between her and Shah Rukh Khan which was edited out to allegedly favour Manisha. "When we finally went for dubbing, Mani Ratnam revealed that the scene was cut in the film. Maybe they didn't want to show a Bollywood hero being vulnerable but I know what he was trying to do. He was trying to cover up for his heroine. She should've done her homework better no? He should've told her to go to the gym and lose some weight," she stated.

‘Dil Se..' portrays a tragic love story with a backdrop of terrorism and insurgency in Northeast India The film was screened at the Era New Horizons Film Festival and the Helsinki International Film Festival. Noted for its non-linear screenplay, 'Dil Se..' won awards for cinematography, audiography, choreography, and music, among others. The film was a success overseas, becoming the first Indian film to enter the top 10 in the United Kingdom box office charts. It also won two National Film Awards, and six Filmfare awards in the year 1999.