Three decades in the film industry, third outing of her successful franchise Mardaani; lovely and talented actress Rani Mukerji looks back and ahead. If her timeless beauty and elegance surprises you, she is equally astonished that she, who never wanted to be an actress, has clocked 30 years in the industry. With clarity, she remembers her very first mahurat shot for Raja Ki Aayegi Baraat.
Yes, those were the days when mahurats were a big affair. She recalls, “With butterflies in my stomach I wondered how I would perform in presence of many bystanders.” Yet, her first monologue and she knew she belonged to the tinsel town.
In her long and enriching journey, the ‘actress by chance’ has transformed into an ‘actress of substance.’ She, who like all professionals believes ‘sincerity and hard work is a given’, gives credit to the significant others, on top of which figure her fans. Her directors, writers, co-stars and particularly makeup and hairstyle assistants who ensure ‘her bad hair and tired face days look good on screen’, are the ones she feels who made her dream run possible.
Today, as she reprises the part of ‘tough as nails’ police officer in Mardaani 3, what she has learnt from her character of Shivani Shivaji Roy is how women police officers power through their life, take care of their homes, nab criminals.
She says, “It’s a tough balancing act and an inspiring one since no quarters are given to them for being women.”
Her reel persona Shivani has busted many crimes like human trafficking. In real life, all kinds of crimes against women like acid attacks, gang rape, dowry deaths and women not finding a voice in their homes, pain her deeply.
Whether women have found a voice in Bollywood, Rani does not take the bait nor pick up any cudgels. Her measured response is, “Women of all strata must have a voice and that would happen only if we as a nation rise in unison, as a collective.”
In the male cop-verse of Singhams and Dabanggs, she is glad her Shivani, paved the way for strong women police officers.
For someone who started her acting career at 17, she can’t say whether the premium attached to youth has diminished. She says, “Everything depends upon the requirement of the role.”
Since Mardaani needs her to dip into angst and anger, we wonder from where that emotion comes to the gentle and genteel Rani. She reminds us, “A woman has navrasa; she can be Gauri, Durga, Kaali and Chandi too.” Interestingly in Mardaani 3, the face of the evil too is of a woman. She wouldn’t say much about her female antagonist, played by stellar theatre actress Mallika Prasad Sinha. She adds, “I look at Mardaani as good vs evil and gender doesn’t matter.”
The trailer might talk about a crime ‘bigger than child trafficking’ but she would not like to grade crimes. For her, a ‘crime is a crime.’ She observes, “This is just one dialogue and only if you watch the entire film, you will understand the context. At this point, I would not like to reveal much.”
The fact that the National Awards committee saw her immeasurable talent only recently when she won the coveted honour for Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway, despite powerful performances in the past such as Black and No One Killed Jessica, doesn’t perturb her. She says, “National Award is a great honour.” Nor is she peeved by critics who tend to devalue sequels. Her choice for doing a film always is the emotional connect and a desire to make her fans feel proud of her choices, a promise Rani intends to keep in future too.
And the way the Kuch Kuch Hota Hai actress is going… losing none of her spark and spunk as an actress, 30 years will be just another milestone. And yes, she couldn’t say yes to Mira Nair’s Namesake earlier, but working with the celebrated director is very much on her wish-list. Since Rani still has stars in her eyes, the twinkle in them is never lost on audiences.