Nepalese Bollywood star diagnosed with cancer =

November 30, 2012
   Kathmandu (dpa)- Nepalese-born Bollywood star Manisha Koirala has been diagnosed with ovarian cancer, a news report said Friday.

   “The cancer is in preliminary stage and can be cured through operations”, the Himalayan Times quoted her father Prakash Koirala as saying. She was to have an operation in the coming days, he said.

   The 42-year old actress was admitted to hospital in Kathmandu on suspect of food poisoning but was flown to India's Mumbai on Tuesday for further diagnosis.

   Koirala's first lead in a Bollywood film was in 1991, since when she has starred in several films of varying genres and successes, including critically acclaimed roles in Bombay and Akele Hum Akele Tum, both in 1995.

   She has been off-screen in recent years, and involved in social and rights activities in Nepal.

   She was born into a political family. Her grandfather BP Koirala was the first elected prime minister of Nepal and a leader of the Nepali Congress, the country's first political party.

   Her uncle Girija Prasad Koirala, known for brokering a peace deal with the Maoist rebels, served several terms as prime minister before his death in 2010.
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Maoists temporarily lift ban on Hindi movies in Nepal

   Kathmandu (dpa) - The newly-formed Communist Party of Nepal, Maoist, said Thursday it had lifted temporarily its ban on Hindi movies.

   The party, a breakaway faction of a larger Maoist group, imposed its own unofficial ban on screening Bollywood films this month, saying they had a negative impact on Nepali society as they were "vulgar."

   The ban was backed up with the threat of members going to cinemas to enforce it.

   The party issued a press statement Thursday to announce the lifting of the ban "in view of the festive season of Dashain" that begins next week.

   On Tuesday, a group of businessmen approached the president of the Communist Party of Nepal, Maoist, Mohan Baidhya, asking him to lift the ban.

   “The ban has caused a loss of 25 million rupees (295,000 dollars) within 10 days to the Nepali theatre industry," said Ashok Sharma, managing director of Digital Cinema Nepal.
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