Manisha Koirala is now angling for sympathy. Her lone battle against Shashilal Nair`s Ek Chhotisi Love Story has remained just that - a lone battle. But trust her to seek a pan-industry cover for her crusade. "I am trying to secure the rights of all film actors and would fight tooth and nail for their dignity," she fumed on a television channel.

The fact remains that nobody in the industry has come forward to speak up for her. Grill the lady about prominent people being conspicuous by their absence at her press meets, she is quick with a rebuttal, "I don`t want to embarrass them unnecessarily. If I call them I know they would support me."

If only she knew what most of her colleagues have to say about the controversy! One has overheared murmurs amid sniggers from members of her fraternity, "Her game plan has backfired - what started off as a publicity stunt in collusion with Nair assumed gigantic proportions once her political ambitions came to the fore." Manya is obviously preparing for life after acting, but the Chhotisi controversy is anything but the right way of going about it!