Manisha’s personal romantic history has been a subject of much media attention, often intertwined with her struggles with alcoholism and her later battle with cancer.

1. The Most Talked About: Relationship with a Married Man (Name not officially confirmed, widely speculated to be actor) For much of the 1990s and early 2000s, Manisha was linked to a high-profile, married Indian actor. She has never publicly named him, but in her memoir, Healed: How Cancer Gave Me a New Life, she describes a devastating, decade-long affair with a co-star who was a "family man."

2. The Public Romance: with a Nepali Businessman In the early 2000s, she was in a high-profile relationship with a businessman from Nepal. This relationship was more public and seemed stable for a while. However, it ended due to cultural pressures and differences in expectations regarding family and career.

3. The Brief Marriage: with Samrat Dahal (2010–2012) In a surprise move, Manisha married Nepali businessman Samrat Dahal in 2010. It was a traditional, grand wedding.

4. Post-Cancer: A New Chapter of Self-Love Since surviving cancer and divorcing, Manisha has publicly stated that she is not looking for marriage or a traditional relationship. She focuses on her health, spirituality, travel, and work. She has spoken about finding peace alone and that romantic love is no longer a priority. This is her current, most empowering storyline: learning to love herself first.

Directed by Shashilal K. Nair, the film was an adaptation of the Polish film A Short Film About Love by Krzysztof Kieślowski. The narrative revolves around a 15-year-old boy who becomes obsessed with an older woman living in the apartment opposite his. Through his binoculars, he watches her life unfold, developing a one-sided infatuation that borders on voyeurism. The film attempted to explore themes of loneliness, adolescent sexuality, and the male gaze.

Ironically, the film that required her to surrender to love (eloping against family will) taught her the opposite lesson in real life. “Shaila Bano gave up her identity for her husband. I did that too—for a few years, I stopped reading, stopped traveling alone, stopped making films that mattered. And I was miserable. Bombay is a beautiful film, but in real life, that kind of self-annihilation is not romantic. It is dangerous.”

Key Takeaway from Real Life: Manisha has admitted she was addicted to "intensity and drama." Her real romances were lessons in self-destruction, which later informed her powerful on-screen performances.