Post by Runa on Oct 10, 2007 6:25:28 GMT -5
'I am comfortable working with Abhishek' - Rani Mukerji
We have barely seen much of Rani Mukerji this year. But now, the actress has two big releases coming up: Pradeep Sarkar's Laaga Chunari Mein Daag and Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Saawariya. Ironically, both movies see her playing a sex worker.
Raman Kapoor caught up with Rani to know more about her movies, working with the Bachchans and her equation with Aishwarya Rai.
What made you accept Laaga Chunari Mein Daag?
For me, two things were important -- Laaga Chunari Mein Daag is a Yash Raj film and Pradeep Sarkar was directing it.
A good producer is a must because he will not compromise in the making of the film. With Yash Raj, one is confident that the film will be made well. Plus, it will be promoted very well too.
As for Pradeep, I have known him for five or six years now. We have done so many ad films together and share a good working relation. When he offered me this film, I couldn't refuse.
We heard that the atmosphere was completely Bong (Bengali) on the sets, since the director, Jaya Bachchan, Konkona Sen Sharma and you are all Bengalis.
Yes, the only thing not Bengali were our dialogues (Laughs)! We even had an unofficial fish cooking competition on the sets. Everyone would boast that their fish was the best.
We irritated Kunal Kapoor and Abhishek Bachchan by speaking in Bengali. Pradeepda talks with his unit in Bengali so everybody spoke tooti footi Bengali. It was fun.
How would you describe Laaga Chunari Mein Daag?
It has everything that a Hindi film has. It's the story about a family. In our society, there is always pressure on the firstborn -- even a girl -- because she is expected to be the male of the house.
It is the journey of a girl into womanhood and her sacrifices for her family.
This is Abhishek's first film after marriage to Aishwarya Rai. How much has he changed post marriage?
He is the same prankster he used to be. He did everything he used to do before marriage on sets. We share a fantastic relation as actors. I have seen him grow as an actor as most of his films were with me. I am comfortable working with him and so is he. It helps a lot when two actors know each other well.
What about Jayaji?
Wonderful! She is playing my mother onscreen and during the shoot, she took care of me like a mother. I had worked with Amit uncle, Abhishek but never with her. Now that too is accomplished. I remember once when I was unwell, Jayaji actually made barley water for me. It was really touching.
What about Aishwarya?
We share a cordial relationship. I don't know why the media has spread the rumour that we don't gel together. Just because two people don't meet or talk to each other doesn't mean that they are having problems. Sometimes, we laugh at these reports.
The film has been surrounded by a lot of controversy.
People will do anything for publicity. Whatever happened with us in Benaras is a classic example.
We were shooting at the ghats and had arranged a press conference for the local media in the evening. But some photographers insisted on taking pictures while we were shooting. We requested them not to but they persisted. It became difficult for me and Konkona to walk to our vans. Our security had to escort us.
After that, I heard reports that Rani Mukerji's guards had misbehaved with the media. I even apologised at the press conference but things just went out of hand.
Recently, you said you have five kids at a function. Where are they?
(Laughs) The media loves me; that's why they are eager to get me marred off. Unki manokamna hai ki meri shaadi ho jaye. But for marriage, you need a man! If I get married, I will not hide it.
There was a time when actresses would hide their marriages. But times have changed and more and more married actresses are working. Sometimes, I feel the media has married me off so many times that marriage has lost its charm.
There was a report that you've started smoking.
That's all rubbish! Some people would write anything. They think Rani doesn't give us interviews so lets write something nasty about her so that she might react or reply. But I'm not going to do that. I am talking now because I have a film releasing and it's better to talk about the film than clarifying things.
Tell us about Saawariya.
It's a special film for me because Sanjay Leela Bhansali is a dear friend. After Black, he came to me with this film. There was not a single reason to refuse a film by Sanjay. Right now, I can only say this much about the film.
What next?
I have a film directed by Kunal Kohli starring Saif Ali Khan. I'm doing one film at a time so that's about it.
We have barely seen much of Rani Mukerji this year. But now, the actress has two big releases coming up: Pradeep Sarkar's Laaga Chunari Mein Daag and Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Saawariya. Ironically, both movies see her playing a sex worker.
Raman Kapoor caught up with Rani to know more about her movies, working with the Bachchans and her equation with Aishwarya Rai.
What made you accept Laaga Chunari Mein Daag?
For me, two things were important -- Laaga Chunari Mein Daag is a Yash Raj film and Pradeep Sarkar was directing it.
A good producer is a must because he will not compromise in the making of the film. With Yash Raj, one is confident that the film will be made well. Plus, it will be promoted very well too.
As for Pradeep, I have known him for five or six years now. We have done so many ad films together and share a good working relation. When he offered me this film, I couldn't refuse.
We heard that the atmosphere was completely Bong (Bengali) on the sets, since the director, Jaya Bachchan, Konkona Sen Sharma and you are all Bengalis.
Yes, the only thing not Bengali were our dialogues (Laughs)! We even had an unofficial fish cooking competition on the sets. Everyone would boast that their fish was the best.
We irritated Kunal Kapoor and Abhishek Bachchan by speaking in Bengali. Pradeepda talks with his unit in Bengali so everybody spoke tooti footi Bengali. It was fun.
How would you describe Laaga Chunari Mein Daag?
It has everything that a Hindi film has. It's the story about a family. In our society, there is always pressure on the firstborn -- even a girl -- because she is expected to be the male of the house.
It is the journey of a girl into womanhood and her sacrifices for her family.
This is Abhishek's first film after marriage to Aishwarya Rai. How much has he changed post marriage?
He is the same prankster he used to be. He did everything he used to do before marriage on sets. We share a fantastic relation as actors. I have seen him grow as an actor as most of his films were with me. I am comfortable working with him and so is he. It helps a lot when two actors know each other well.
What about Jayaji?
Wonderful! She is playing my mother onscreen and during the shoot, she took care of me like a mother. I had worked with Amit uncle, Abhishek but never with her. Now that too is accomplished. I remember once when I was unwell, Jayaji actually made barley water for me. It was really touching.
What about Aishwarya?
We share a cordial relationship. I don't know why the media has spread the rumour that we don't gel together. Just because two people don't meet or talk to each other doesn't mean that they are having problems. Sometimes, we laugh at these reports.
The film has been surrounded by a lot of controversy.
People will do anything for publicity. Whatever happened with us in Benaras is a classic example.
We were shooting at the ghats and had arranged a press conference for the local media in the evening. But some photographers insisted on taking pictures while we were shooting. We requested them not to but they persisted. It became difficult for me and Konkona to walk to our vans. Our security had to escort us.
After that, I heard reports that Rani Mukerji's guards had misbehaved with the media. I even apologised at the press conference but things just went out of hand.
Recently, you said you have five kids at a function. Where are they?
(Laughs) The media loves me; that's why they are eager to get me marred off. Unki manokamna hai ki meri shaadi ho jaye. But for marriage, you need a man! If I get married, I will not hide it.
There was a time when actresses would hide their marriages. But times have changed and more and more married actresses are working. Sometimes, I feel the media has married me off so many times that marriage has lost its charm.
There was a report that you've started smoking.
That's all rubbish! Some people would write anything. They think Rani doesn't give us interviews so lets write something nasty about her so that she might react or reply. But I'm not going to do that. I am talking now because I have a film releasing and it's better to talk about the film than clarifying things.
Tell us about Saawariya.
It's a special film for me because Sanjay Leela Bhansali is a dear friend. After Black, he came to me with this film. There was not a single reason to refuse a film by Sanjay. Right now, I can only say this much about the film.
What next?
I have a film directed by Kunal Kohli starring Saif Ali Khan. I'm doing one film at a time so that's about it.
