Bollywood actress Manisha Koirala appeared before the Dhaka audience for the first time on November 9. She was appearing in a morning session in the ongoing Dhaka Lit Fest (DLF). She was accompanied by Indian actress and filmmaker Nandita Das onstage. The session was conducted by Dhaka Lit Fest director Sadaf Saaz.

Manisha Koirala is getting ready to bring her autobiographical sketch 'The Book of Untold Stories.' She has taken part in the literary conglomeration in Dhaka primarily in this regard. The book is said to contain her life struggles, particularly her struggles with cancer. Maisha happens to be one of the few ones who have survived cancer. In the session she talked about cancer. She considers return from cancer not like something of a rebirth, but still spirit is required to survive it. According to reports, she further said that possible gender disparity present in all workplaces is a challenge to increase competitiveness and should not be considered as a particular issue.

The Dhaka Lit Fest opened on November 8 at Bangla Academy. On this day Nandita Das appeared. Her film Manto on the Pakistani author Sadat Hasan Manto was screened on this day. She said she started reading from Manto during her college days but discovered the award winning author with renewed interest in 2012 the year Manto received state honour posthumously from the Pakistani government. The film contains the pivotal four years in the author's life starting from 1947 and ending in 1950. She also discussed her experience about Manto for making the film. About choosing Nawazuddin Siddiqui to play the lead role she said that Nawazuddin is a born actor and beside her 'tuning' with him is also adequate. He is an actor who can be relied on.

Nandita further added that this would be first time she is hosting her film outside India. She said that though in the past she thought films can only be seen in halls, now times have changed, films should be screened wherever necessary-feasible, so that the stories can reach people. Nandita previously appeared before Dhaka audience as a performer, this time she has appeared as a filmmaker.