The tragedy of being Rani Mukerji

The tragedy of being Rani Mukerji

For the longest time, I've been avoiding writing on Rani Mukerji as there was a time when I used interact with her often; she never failed to answer a text message.

Once, during an interview just before her birthday, I cut her midway saying that I had grown tired of asking her the same question and I can well imagine her position.

"You know the answers. You don't need to ask me that question again," she smiled, offering me a piece of frosted chocolate cake while lounging on the spacious balcony that overlooks the garage at Krishna Cottage (her bungalow) in Juhu.

I told her that the conversations were getting really boring. But if I talk to her about the stuff that I really wanted to talk to her about " like the phobia of top Bollywood filmmakers when it comes to investing in women-centric film scripts " then my interview would've been anything, but front page material of an entertainment supplement. Rani just smiled and asked me to go ahead with my questions anyway.

I don't know exactly why we connected " it could have been that I first met her first through Debashree Roy (National Award winning Bengali actress and her aunt); it could been the language as we spoke Bengali or the fact that we belonged to the same age-group. Rani would not be her usual guarded self before me.

There were occasions when she had spoken about interesting things but I could never push those interviews as the top entertainment story of the day as it lacked masala'.

But the interview before her birthday was quite a harrowing one for me as apparently the only question on everyone's lips was: When is she tying the knot with Aditya Chopra?'

So, I had a specific task " to get the answer.

Whether she denies the marriage or acknowledges it, I knew that any utterance would make headlines.

"When are you getting married?" was a routine question I kept asking her for five years. I changed my jobs, but that question remained constant.

A job hazard, one day it put me off completely. It depressed me. And I stopped asking her the question.

A Durga Puja I won't forget

The incident happened three years back when I was at Rani Mukerji's Durga Puja. At one point of time, the company I was working at, used to be the media partner of the Puja, but that was not the sole reason for me to be there.

Durga Puja is a time when I am usually found hogging shamelessly on the terribly unhealthy, anything-is-Bengali-if-it-is-deep-fried food. Rani's puja has always been a favourite hangout for that. Another reason for frequenting the Puja was that a good friend never fails puts up a food stall there. This ensures that all our common friends converge there at different times of the day.

The media and actors also converge there. Some reporters also come to catch a possible headline', like say, Rani and Kajol ignoring each other, or, Kajol arriving with her kids. Or n imaginary situation where Aditya Chopra makes a sudden, dramatic entry at the venue to make an announcement about his marriage with Rani.

The last situation has never occurred but the press still hopes that it will happen one day. During Durga puja that year, there was a nasty surprise waiting for me " Rani's father, Ram Mukherjee, made an unexpected appearance at the Durga Puja pandal. He had just recovered from an illness of the heart and was looking frail and weak. He took his seat on one corner and was looking intently at the stage where the purohit was conducting the puja. Rani's family members rallied around him.

An hour later, a television reporter went up to him and requested if he can speak to the media. Durga Puja is a time when every Bengali is in his elements, and the old man was no different. He immediately got up to talk to the press.

It must've taken him a lot effort to walk out of the pandal and join the journalists waiting outside to interview him. I too followed him and stood behind him as he spoke to the TV press.

The question-answer session began with my asking "Aapko kaisa mehsoos ho raha hai?" " a typical ice-breaker for TV reporters in India.

As Rani's dad started speaking about Durga Puja and how great he was feeling, came the question: "When is your daughter getting married?"

The reporter posed the question matter-of-factly as I watched in horror how his face sunk. He was not smiling anymore. The question had surely touched a raw nerve.

"Rani has promised me that she will get married next year. As a father I want to see my daughter married. What else does a father want but to see his daughter settle down?" he asked, looking at a journalist.

The journalist's face lit up. That was headline material, Man!

After saying a few more words, the old man trudged back towards where he was sitting. He was not smiling anymore.

The journalists were busy to even see what Ram Mukherjee was doing. They didn't have the time. Nobody had time to see how they had hurt him.

For the next half an hour, he was staring blankly at the idol as the journalists kept checking their video recording. Soon, other camera-men arrived at the scene to get a transfer' of the explosive' footage.

In an hour, some channels were screaming with a headline " "Rani's father says that Rani is getting married to Aditya Chopra next year."

Since I was there and had overheard the conversation, I also had to report about the incident in the next day's paper.

A few days later, I heard that Rani's father has fallen sick again. Rani was cancelling shoots and events left, right and centre to be with her father and ensure that he regains his health.

I was feeling angry. Very angry.

Somewhere down the line, we hurt the old man.

Had it been my father there, I would have perhaps broken a few cameras.

But I wonder if that incident broke Rani's heart.

http://bollywoodjournalist.com/2014/03/12/rani-mukerji-mukherjee-marriage-aditya-chopra-bollywood/

http://bollywoodjournalist.com/2014/03/12/rani-mukerji-mukherjee-marriage-aditya-chopra-bollywood/