The Reigning Rani Of Hearts ( A+ )

One of the most amazing thing a woman can do is give birth and hats off to all mothers who go through the pain of giving birth to babies!”

The shiny limo drives upto the gates of Yashraj studios like a chariot of olde Jhansi. And a hushed silence falls over the chattering masses. The Rani has arrived. And while the mobs don’t exactly bow in c’urtsey, the effect is much akin to what royalty has on, well …junta. Rani Mukherjee - India’s darling derring-do actress of today has that regal effect. And her stunningly svelte new look (thanks to a vigorous diet’n’gym regimen she tells us) only adds to the royal ‘substance’.



“For me it’s very important that the health of my parents is very good because when they fall ill I become completely dysfunctional!”

I’m stand mesmerized … but hark, the spell is broken as Rani claps, ‘tea break’ and drags me away to the large atrium (I fearfully look around - no lions around for us ‘beauty slaves’ to play gladiator with?) and we talk … Plenty about the newest love in her life mainly.

Her niece Myiesha who seemed to have stolen some of the Queen’s thunder.



“I can’t tell you what joy Myiesha brings to our lives. Her smile just makes us bow down at her feet. We become her servants. I no longer represent the Rani that I am. I become the maid; at her beck and call!”

A smile plays across Rani’s face as she recounts her sudden ‘slave status’. “I can’t tell you what joy Myiesha brings to our lives. Her smile just makes us bow down at her feet. We become her servants. I no longer represent the Rani that I am. I become the maid; all at her beck and call. We’re all dying for her to just smile at us and when she does, we all go completely gaga; if not mad and insane.

My day starts with playing with her in the morning, going to work coming back, being with her, enjoying her till she sleeps.



“My dad has been constantly been playing this ‘game’ with us - falling sick and recovering, no choice of his. It worries us. My own health in the industry is controlled by his health only!”
Only then do I eat and sleep. My whole day is like that. Because she’s fulltime entertainment.

And now she’s just started to turn over - and roll. She finds a lot of enjoyment doing that. You put her in the bed and she starts rolling.

This is a stage where she has not even started crawling, so it’s a very sweet stage; and she’s just begun recognizing faces, so the moment you enter the room and say ‘Myiesha’ she suddenly flashes this big gooey smile.



“I don’t think marriage or relations are about people being ‘perfect’. I think what works in a relationship is that you and your partner have an equal love for each other whether you’re perfect or not!”

Poor thing, she’s really become an ayah. I’m still not in that phase. But jokes apart its great - one of the most amazing thing a woman can do is give birth and hats off to all mothers who go through the pain of giving birth to babies.” Rani had felt much pain herself, when her dad had gone through bouts of ill-health. And the doting daughter was by his side day and night.

Obviously for her, family stood first, when a loved one is in distress, stardom could take a backseat. “Yes! My dad has been constantly been playing this ‘game’ with us - falling sick and recovering, no choice of his. It worries us. My own health in the industry is controlled by his health only.



“Marriages are not about marrying Mr Perfect or Ms Perfect. It is about marrying someone for whom your heart skips a beat; a person who may not be perfect at all; he may have a lot of flaws and probably I may have flaws!”

For me it’s very important that the health of my parents is very good because when they fall ill I become completely dysfunctional. And because I’m in a profession where I have to be committed, I’ve to do my job, I can’t let down so many people who’re are at work. One person cannot mess up a shoot where so many are working.

So it was testing for me because I used to travel from Andheri in the suburbs to Breach Candy in town every morning. Then to Film City in another suburb and back home late. It was exhausting - more so mentally. That’s why I keep telling my family to look after their health. That’s all I want from them.”



“I’ve been lucky to have some great friends from the industry - like Aamir and SRK - who’ve been rock steady pillars of mine right from my first movies – like my parents, feeling proud of my achievements!”
And so be it too. But another point of consternation - last year the controversial KANK won her accolades, but everyone wondered if in real life anyone would give up a Mr. Perfect husband like Abhishek? As usual, she had a strong point of view, “I don’t think marriage or relations are about people being ‘perfect’.

I think what works in a relationship is that you and your partner have an equal love for each other whether you’re perfect or not. Marriages are not about marrying Mr Perfect or Ms Perfect. It is about marrying someone for whom your heart skips a beat; a person who may not be perfect at all; he may have a lot of flaws and probably I may have flaws.



What really clicks in a relationship is whether you love a person truly and you love a person with all his flaws and bright points. KANK was a beautiful experience for me because it spoke about plenty of relations that were incomplete and people finding completeness outside their marriage.

The cusp of the film was ‘What if you find the love of your life after you get married? Do you leave your love for that marriage or do you leave your marriage for that love?’ And obviously how I looked at my character was that she basically went with her love because she did not want to live a lie that much longer.

I felt what she was doing with Abhishek was wrong; because she was letting him love her and not giving him that love back; she was being unfair to him. So it was important for her to get out of that relationship.

But also I feel that the characters weren’t forgiven for their mistake - which was the story of the film. But it happens. I’ve had many women came upto me, send me letters, saying that they were in that type of marriages where they knew that their husbands loved them, but they didn’t feel the same for them.