Manisha Koirala turns villain for Mani Ratnam's Ravana

Remember Manisha Koirala? This Nepali actress, whose only claim to fame is her role in Bombay, had simply vanished into oblivion. But the actress is now back. She has bagged a role in Mani Ratnam's Ravana and the actress is currently in Orchha, Madhya Pradesh shooting for this film.

"She has got an important role to play in Ravana. Her act will be a negative as she is playing Ravana's sister. She has joined the whole cast and crew in Madhya Pradesh and she is very happy that finally after so many years she will be seen in a different role," says a source close to the actress.

Manna, as she is affectionately called in the industry, has prepared hard for bagging this role. "She is really preparing for this film. It is a golden opportunity for her to comeback into main stream Bollywood. Mani sir asked her to reduce her weight and she was on a weight losing spree to be able to pull off the role," adds the source.

And it looks like being signed by Mani Ratnam is helping Koirala attract attention of other filmmakers as well. "She is in talks with Rajkumar Santoshi for another project. This will be her second film with him after Lajja," says our source.

Manisha Koirala was last with Kay Kay Menon in Sirf. Her much delayed film Mehbooba with Sanjay Dutt and Ajay Devgan also released last year. But both films bombed at the box office.