ASHIAN PICTURE

t’s confirmed. Rani Mukherjee is doing Karan Johar’s next, and never mind if she had to lose the chance to go international with Mira Nair. Pooh-poohing the rumour that she turned down Mira Nair’s prestigious The Namesake because of (a) a nude scene, (b) remuneration disagreement, and (c) an abbreviated role vis-à-vis Abhishek’s, Rani replies, “Wrong. There’s no nude scene in the film at all. Remuneration was no issue. As for my role being less pivotal than the male protagonist’s, the script is quite different from the book and it’s now a mother-daughter story with me playing the mother. No. The only reason I said ‘no’ to such a beautiful film was dates. I’m committed to do Karan Johar’s film during the time when Mira wanted me. Karan is a very dear friend. He gave me the one break (Kuch Kuch Hota Hai) which turned my career around. I can’t let down people who have been so important to my career for a film abroad, no matter how prestigious.” Fundas in place, Rani marches on. 2004 belongs to Rani. Why has she chosen to remain silent even after Kunal Kohli’s Hum Tum became the biggest hit of the year? “What was there to say? It’d look like I was praising myself if I went on and on about myself. Better to keep silent until you’ve something worthwhile to say.” But now she does have things to say. After her star-turn as the Pakistani activist-lawyer in Yash Chopra’s Veer-Zaara, the buzz for Rani has climbed to a crescendo. And to think that the role had originally been written for a man! Aditya Chopra converted the lawyer’s gender for Rani’s sake. “Yes. It was written for a man. But I’m glad it was changed. So many ideas on women’s empowerment, female literacy and the Indo-Pak relations came into the picture with me. Aren’t I lucky?” she laughs.

Rani has plenty to be pleased about. Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Black, for one, which opens January-end. “Ah, now that’s something I can go on and on talking about, though I don’t know how much I can say. What I must state is that Black opened up an entirely new world for me, the world of the physically challenged. Through Black, I was actually able to see how such people feel, think, suffer as they try to connect with the outside world. Black has changed me as a human being and an actress. Sanjay Leela Bhansali is a very, very special creator.” Does this change mean that she’s no longer interested in playing conventional leading ladies? Rani is wary of being branded unorthodox. “Why do you say that? True, I don’t have a conventional leading man in Veer -Zaara or Black. But what about Hum Tum, which was a man-woman story, but with a difference. And in Ketan Desai’s The Rising, I’m very much the conventional leading lady. I even perform a mujra. In Ravi Chopra’s Babul again, I’m paired opposite Salman though a lot of my interaction is with Amitji. And what about Shaad Ali’s Bunty Aur Babli? I’m having a ball being Babli. That’s me!”

Besides Karan’s next directorial venture, Rani has also been pencilled in to play the lead in Shah Rukh Khan’s production to be directed by Amol Palekar. “Is my career rocking? I don’t know. But I am,” she laughs her throaty laughter.