Will Rani’s ‘magic’ work?

photo: RAJEEV BHATT

Multi-faceted:Rani Mukerji in New Delhi.

She adapts quickly – according to her stature and situation. One remembers, when Rani Mukerji came to Delhi with Amitabh Bachchan to promote “Black”, for which she later won the National Award (Best Actress), she chose to give short, quick answers, and let Big B rule the stage. She walked behind him and even when she got a chance, she didn’t walk beside or ahead of him. It’s the trait of a ‘bhalo main’ (‘good girl’ in Bengali). But when she was with Kunal Kohli, the man she shares her age group with, she was playful, and even chipped in while he spoke. She was recently in New Delhi to promote “Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic” releasing this Friday.

For every answer, she smiled cracked jokes, teased the prodding journalists and thanked them for switching off their mobile phones quickly. She was like a school girl who was savouring her freedom from over-protective parents. A few think that this ‘change’ was an attempt to make up for her recent altercations with journalists, when her bodyguards bashed them up for getting too close to her.

But that wasn’t so. She has always been a ‘bhalo main.’ She chose films for a career because she “didn’t want to disappoint” her mother. She chose good films because she didn’t want to upset the audience. She wore revealing dresses because her mom would tell her, ‘it’s fine. It’s not you, it’s the character’. She would “sob when lonely” and “snide when someone tried to pity” her. She grew up “a little early” and “missed a great part of childhood because of busy shooting schedules.” She had to turn a wife/bahu and wear a sari in her second film ‘Raja Ki Aayegi Baraat,’ at 16.

Kohli’s ‘Ta Ra Rum Pum’ and now ‘Thoda Pyaar…’ have brought out the child in her. This is the second film in which she has kids for company.

In this Yashraj-banner film, Rani plays an angel whom God sends to take care of four orphaned kids (played by Akshat Chopra, Shriya Sharma, Rachit Sidana and Ayushi Berman) who have to live with tyrant Ranbeer Talwar as per a court verdict. Rani as Gita brings them together in this “quite a tear-jerker and yet a funny film” as Kohli puts it.

Says Rani, “God (Rishi Kapoor) sends me on a cycle. I slide down the rainbow to land at Ranbeer’s house. To shoot this scene I was at 7000 meters above the land. I was scared but loved it. These are the advantages of working in a kids’ film. I ate a lot of chocolates with them (kids) and put on three kgs.”

On the kids’ acting skills, she says, “They are impulsive actors. They will react to a scene the way they want, rather than blindly follow the directors. I used to be on my toes… ready to handle any reaction to avoid retakes.”

It is difficult to believe that Rani, who is considered as one of the most accomplished actors in Bollywood, didn’t want to join the industry, despite her background.

“My father was a film producer/distributor, a profession I did not want my friends in my school to know about as decent families did not choose such a profession. But my mother wanted me to join films as my elder sister Debashree Roy is also a Bengali film actor. I felt that it wasn’t a decent profession.

“Moreover, I had this idea that only tall, smart and beautiful girls could become heroines. So when Salim uncle (of Salim-Javed fame) offered me the ‘Aa Gale Lag Ja’ role, opposite Jugal Hansraj, I was shocked. But my mom was very happy. She sent me for the audition saying, ‘There is nothing wrong in trying it out. Girls crave [for a chance like this] and you are getting the opportunity by just sitting at home’. I was at an impressionable age and confused about what career to take up, so I agreed.”

She was given mini skirts to wear and dialogue to deliver. “They put glycerine in my eyes… I was already shocked to see those mini dresses. I didn’t want to wear them. The glycerine made my eyes sticky. I couldn’t even open my eyes, so how could I speak my lines. ” Obviously, she failed her audition miserably. “I was very happy [to be] rejected”, she quips, adding, “Despite that Salim uncle said I was very photogenic and would do well”.

By then Rani had just finished her 12th class and had enrolled herself in Mithibai College. Meanwhile, she got an offer for ‘Raja Ki Aayegi Baraat,’ which she eventually accepted because she “didn’t want to let mom down. Since my career [choice had already been made], I decided to take it seriously.”

Didn’t it hurt often that she didn’t live life the way she may have wanted? “It did initially. But when your decision makes others smile, you don’t mind losing yourself to it. The decision finally gave me respect, love, money, friends and a bonding with the audience. I was called a ‘cry baby.’ I still am. If I hurt someone, I secretly cry. So maybe I wouldn’t have been happy if I hadn’t chosen to work in films,” she adds.

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