Five months shy of turning 50, Manisha Koirala finds herself busier than usual. "I am grateful that I am getting offers at this stage," says Koirala, who—as a leading lady in the late'90s—had witnessed from close quarters how Bollywood could, unfortunately, be ageist when it came to female actors. However, with the digital entertainment boom and a new wave of cinema on the rise, she acknowledges that it is a good time for female actors.

If her past outings are any indication, it is evident that she has found her groove in the digital world. Her latest release, Neeraj Udhwani's Maska, dropped on Netflix over the weekend. Known to dive deep into her characters, Koirala enjoyed the process of playing a Parsi woman, who readies to pass on the family legacy—an Irani café—to her son. "She's funny, eccentric and traditional. The role provided me an opportunity to do something I had not done before. I had to pick up the strong accent [that] Parsis [employ]. I also visited the various Parsi baugs in the city to observe the community."