Queen of hearts

It’s been 25 years since Rani Mukerji first sparkled on our screens. With her latest film Bunty Aur Babli 2 — a ‘spiritual sequel’ to the first film that released in 2005 — now playing in theatres, Rani engaged in a freewheeling chat with The Telegraph on movie memories, fun encounters with her co-stars and much more.

It’s been 25 years of Rani Mukerji in films. Does it feel like yesterday or does it feel like a lifetime?

Don’t say it so loudly... it makes me scared! I think it feels like 25 years only! (Laughs) That’s because a lot has happened in these 25 years.... I grew up, I got married, I had my baby, I made such wonderful films.... I made such wonderful friends in my journey of 25 years. I made some wonderful fans, loyal fans, who loved me right from my first film and have been with me for so long. They have stood by me through thick and thin. So I can say that it’s been a wonderful journey of 25 years. It feels like a lot, but I guess that’s how fast time flies. I hope my next 25 years also go in that same pace.

Amen to that. What’s the most abiding memory from your first day on set?

I do remember. I was shooting for Raja Ki Aayegi Baraat. It was the mahurat shot and I was wearing this magenta ghagra-choli, with a net dupatta that had golden butis on it… I remember it very very clearly... It’s one of those memories that don’t leave you! We were on a little platform, a stage kind of a thing, giving this mahurat shot. It was the set of the house in Raja Ki Aayegi Baraat, which is when I (Mala, played by Rani) get married and go to Shadaab’s (Khan, who played Raj opposite Rani) house. And I remember I had to say these lines that ran over a page. I was quite nervous before that shot, but then when I finally gave the shot, I realised, ‘Oh my God! It flew really naturally through my mouth!’ And that’s when I discovered that okay, maybe this profession is something that I can do without being so scared.

What are the two films that you believe changed the course of your career?

I would say Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Ghulam because those were my two first mainstream films. They catapulted me to success, name, fame, whatever you want to call it.... and I immediately became a household name through those films. One was ‘Khandala girl’ (from the song Aati kya Khandala in Ghulam). The other was Tina (in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai), opposite Shah Rukh (Khan) and Kajol, who were the true-blue, very famous on-screen pair of the time. I was pitted against them and so for me, to have been able to make a mark in that film was a very big thing as a newcomer. The focus was on their pairing and that people noticed me in the film was great.

And, of course, with ‘Khandala girl’, working with a perfectionist like Aamir (Khan) and people saw that I held my own against him. They noticed my confidence.

And then, after that it would be the time when I signed up for Saathiya, Chalte Chalte, Hum Tum, Black... that was the second phase. The third phase came after my marriage when I did Mardaani. I broke the stereotype and did a film like that after being married and having a baby.

Given a chance, is there anything you would do differently?

No. Because then it wouldn’t be my journey. It would be somebody else’s journey. I think journeys are not only meant to be of successes or always the good things. I think journeys are interesting when you see the pitfalls, the failures, you learn from your mistakes… whether it was signing a film that didn’t work, or something about the film that you learned from. There have been times where I have done a film but I didn’t enjoy working on it, but the film went on to becoming a big hit. So, you see, there are different things that have happened in my career which has been my journey, my ups and downs and I own them very proudly. One needs to be as much attached to one’s failures as to one’s successes. Because both teach you to move on in life.

In 25 years you have done so many roles donning so many different looks. Which three looks of yours on screen would you consider the most iconic?

Bunty Aur Babli, for sure. I think Black. And I think Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. Also if I could add one more, it would be the clothes of Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna.

Rani Mukherjee

The last time we met, you had told us that your daughter Adira sees your songs on screen and gets excited. Now that she’s slightly more grown up, how does she react to you on screen, especially to your looks in Bunty Aur Babli 2?

She has seen Bunty Aur Babli 2. In fact, she helped style me in the film! (Smiles) She is this mini fashionista in my life.

My clothes in Bunty Aur Babli 2 are styled by Sabyasachi. Sabya has done a great job! I had told him that the character is a fashionista from Phursatganj. She believes that she is a fashion queen. The clothes from the first film had become so iconic that I needed someone to come in and create a new look for Vimmi (aka Babli) as she is 10 years older now. But I also didn’t want her to leave that style and spunk that she had.

We made the character into a Sabyasachi fan who makes copies of his clothes. So Sabya had to make clothes thinking how it would be if someone was copying his clothes! (Laughs) I kept telling him to make it tacky and he kept saying, ‘Don’t worry, aami loud loud colours debo and akta tacky paar debo. Akdom odbhut lagbe dekhte....” And he really nailed the look, as I am sure you’ll have seen. And his genius is that from the shoes to the jhola to the cap to the dupatta... it’s all made from the same fabric. It is so brilliantly done!

For the other part of the film where I get into disguise, I wanted to do something completely different. Sabya suggested that I shop from London when I was there. It had to again be a very striking look, so I obviously opted for designer labels there. Adira came along and was very excited that I was shopping for my film. She ended up giving a lot of inputs on what I should wear and how I should match what! Finally, she was really kicked watching the film because she remembered all the stuff that she had bought for me, as well as the scenes that she had come to see on the sets as well.

She relates a lot with Bunty Aur Babli 2 because she was there and she finds me extremely funny because I am a complete comedian in the film. She likes that... she goes, ‘Ha ha ha, mama!’ (Laughs)

And does she expect you to be like that at home too?

I am like that at home. She doesn’t like me stern at all!

When you look back now, what would you say to the Rani of 25 years ago, both as a person and as an actor?

As a person I would say, ‘Damn good for you ya, you listened to your mom and became an actor, which is great... so good girl!’ And as an actor, I would say, ‘You have a lot to learn, so keep learning and it should never stop’. I feel that there is so much more to learn and so much more to do. With each passing year, stories evolve, performances evolve, films evolve... you have to keep catching up.

Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna

If you could remake a film of yours or release it again, which would you pick?

I don’t think any film of mine could be made again, they are good as they are. But if Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna was released again now, I feel it would get a better response than what it did then. I think it was a film ahead of its time. People overreacted when it came out because they were so scared to see the reality on screen. Thanks to that film, people today are okay with talking about their not-so-great marriages, or about their marriages getting over. So we all need to thank Karan (Johar, the film’s director).

What is the one thing that you love about being on set on the first day of shoot?

The first day is full of nerves where I am trying to crack the character, trying to get the sur of the character. It’s very exciting but also nerve-wracking because you are trying to play a new character and get the nuances right. So the first day is very very important... to find the rhythm.

For better or for worse, what is different in Bollywood now as compared to when you started out?

I wouldn’t categorise them as good or bad, it’s for you all to now guess! (Laughs) Now there is the corporatisation of films where a lot of corporates have come in to produce films. Now you have actors having talent managers, social media, PR... there is a long list. So now you’ll have to guess what is good and what is bad!

ROCKING IT WITH RANI!

If your co-actors were brands, what would their punchlines be…

Saif Ali Khan: ‘Wow!’ (Imitates Saif!)

Shah Rukh Khan: ‘I love you Rani’.

Salman Khan: Salman is my dost, he is my buddy! It will have to be something to do with friendship. He would be the best to say ‘Chalti hain kya nau se barah’.

Aamir Khan: That’s tough actually. He would say ‘Aati kya Khandala?’

Hrithik Roshan

Hrithik Roshan: He calls me Mishti. Something to do with mishti I guess. Duggu (Hrithik) is just so good-looking... I wonder what his tagline would be! He looks like a Greek God. Every time I meet him, I ask him if he is for real! I think that would be his tagline, ‘Are you for real?’

A film that you associate with the word...

• Warm: Kuch Kuch Hota Hai
• Hectic: Mardaani
• Love: Chalte Chalte and Hum Tum
• Naughty: Bunty Aur Babli, 1 and 2!
• Difficult: Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna

Saathiya

An alternate name for...

• Saathiya: I think I would give it a Bengali take and call it ‘Bhalobasha Bhalobasha’
• Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna: ‘Love Stories’
• Mujhse Dosti Karoge: What was Bebo’s (Kareena Kapoor) name in the film? Tina, right? It can be called ‘Pooja Tina Raj’.
• Chalte Chalte: ‘Love Unlimited’
• Hum Tum: ‘Aami Tumi’

Kuch Kuch Hota Hai

A crazy story from the sets of...

Kuch Kuch Hota Hai

That would be Manish (Malhotra, designer) going and asking my mother for her mangalsutra in the middle of Scotland when she was in the bus. He forgot to get a mangalsutra for the shot that I was doing with Shah Rukh, which was the honeymoon shot. He went up to my mother in the bus and dramatically screamed, ‘Aunty, mujhe apna mangalsutra de do!’ And my mother woke up in shock and was like, ‘Kyon?!’ He almost grabbed it from her, took it to the set and told Karan, ‘See Karan, what a nice mangalsutra and it even matches Rani’s outfit. She’s wearing orange and this has an orange bead in it’. Cut to Karan seeing my mother huffing and puffing and screaming at Manish, ‘Mera mangalsutra kahan hain?!’ (Laughs) It was total madness!

Ghulam

In the climax, when Aamir (Khan) is completely battered and bruised and he opens the shutter of the shop and I have to see him and come running and give him a hug. It was one of my first days of shoot on the film. Vikram (Bhatt, director) charged me up and said, ‘Come on Rani, you have to give this your best. You are in love with this man and you have to go and charge and hug him’. I charged and hugged Aamir at such speed that he fell! And Aamir is like, ‘Arre baapre Vikram, kahan se yeh engine leke aaya hain?!’ In the second take, Aamir held his ground so hard that we both fell forward. In the third take, we both fell on Vikram’s lap who was standing behind Aamir!

Paheli

Paheli

We were shooting in a small town in Rajasthan. One night, we were supposed to stay in the hotel and do the scene in the film that involves a well. We checked into that hotel and at about 1am, Shah Rukh comes running out saying that we should stay in Jaipur and that we would travel each day to the location and shoot and go back. He had some kind of supernatural experience while shooting for Paheli, which was about the supernatural! He never told us what it was.