Mumbai, September 18: If the Reality TV vocabulary is anything to go by, Rani Mukerji is right now in the “danger zone”. She is wavering between an “over-the-hill” actor tag and an impend ing marriage. And in the Bollywood rulebook, the latter also translates into career harakiri. But of course, nobody knows it better than the actress herself. So even in the midst of her ambitious Dil Bole Hadippa’s release, Rani is doggedly denying her marriage rumours. “I think they have been trying to marry me off for the last three years and they are just not able to fix a date. But just to clear the air, there is no marriage and there is none happening in the future also,” she tells me in a reproving note.
If statistics matter, Rani’s career graph has been on a downhill since 2006. All her six big releases fell flat at the box office and the rumour mills were busy getting her married to Aditya Chopra. That her one-time loyalists Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan chose to act with young and fresh heroines didn’t help her case either. Her fairy act in her last outing, Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic still remains a standing joke amongst cinegoers. Then Rani went into hibernation.
It’s been a year and one look at the promos of Dil Bole Hadippa, you know Rani’s worked her guts out to play the dual roles of Veera and Veer Pratap Singh. “I have been working really hard on this movie. Before the shooting started, I had to go through this extensive training on cricket. Then I wanted to tone up my body to look like an athlete.
In the process I started enjoying the weight loss and the toning bit,” she enthuses. So you get to see a fantastically toned Rani in a never-before avatar — bikini tops and hot pants and gyrating in a shower. But it’s her wide-eyed Sardarji act that’s been widely discussed. How did she prepare herself for the role? “I think acting comes naturally to me so I don’t need to prepare myself for any role. I only worked on my cricket, as I didn’t know how to hold a bat or walk with the pads. As for my character, I picked up certain things from the people whom I remember. I had many Sardar friends in school,” she avers.
So has she mastered cricket now? “Oh god no! she protests, “I think, I can just about hit the ball with my bat as I didn’t want to make a fool of myself.”
Then there is the matter of her sizzling chem istry with Shahid Kapur. I tell her that I am mpressed with her dancing skills; she’s matched Kapur at every step! “Thank you.
I have always loved dancing but trust me, it was no mean task to dance with him,”
she chuckles. I wonder whether she remembers the Pepsi commercial chuckles. I wonder whether she members the Pepsi commercial hat they did together? ” Of course, I was around 17 then and I remem ber him being in awe of me. But I was also relatively new trying to get things right,” she says. And yes, she thinks they look great yes, she thinks they look great together and tells me that she’s get ting good feedback for her look add ing, “Having Shahid in the film, makes it very fresh and contempo rary. He is looking so good that every time he would come on the set, I used to tell him “Oh my God, Shahid you are looking so handsome!” looking so handsome!” So what’s the secret of her new toned look? “I did a lot of power yoga, cardio and a lot of weight training to tone up my body. I was also required to avoid my favourite macher-jhol (fish curry) and mishti (sweets). But after that I got into a balanced diet mode. I realised that the food you must eat is the one that is good for a balanced diet mode. I realised that the food you must eat is the one that is good for you,” she offers.
Any fond memories of DBH? “We were shooting the song where I was dressed up as the Sardarji and coincidentally Aamir was shooting an ad at Yash Raj Films while SRK was there for Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi and both of them were quiet taken in by my look. Aamir came and helped me put my moustache. Aamir and SRK Food Fish made by her mom are two very special people in my life and I was happy to have them on the set on my first day of shoot,” offers Rani.
Heard her young Sardarji act even made her popular on the sets. She agrees laughingly, “Our unit members used to be very friendly with me when I was Veer, but when I turned to Veera, they will go back to their respectful self. Even Shahid found it more relaxing when I turned into Veer as he felt I am just another guy. I really enjoyed being a boy. It’s a character very close to my heart.”
We switch off from DBH for a while. It’s been a decade of characters, has there been times when she just wanted to give it all up? “No way,”
she sounds shocked, I feel I can go another 17 years from here. It has been a great journey because I worked with great people, lovely directors, producers and great co-actors.”
I wonder about her childhood movie inspirations, did she always want to be an actress? “I used to be in awe of my aunt Debashree Roy (Bengali actress). I used to go see her in the studios and when I entered her makeup room, I would feel that this is a fantasy world. And of course, I watched a lot of Sridevi and Madhuri Dixit movies. They hugely influenced me. I don’t think anybody can replace them,” she states adding, “Today I see my niece is in awe of me.
When I am getting ready for work, I see her watching me.”
As we wind up, I ask her, so what’s your status message today? “Hadippa (Hurrah), my heart just says hadippa. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.”
—Agencies