All's not well on the sets of Pradeep Sarkar's Chudiyan in Varanasi, and the problem is Rani Mukerji. According to sources in the unit, the actress has been acting high and mighty and lowly make-up artistes and other crews are bearing the brunt of her wicked mood swings. Queenbee stings From ill-treating the hired help to making sarcastic remarks, Rani has taken to her Queenbee image a tad too seriously. Our source informs, "She's been acting like a maharani! Everyone on the sets is shocked to see this kind of behaviour from Rani. An otherwise jolly girl, she is making life difficult by yelling at people and throwing temper tantrums." It all started with her security men assaulting media persons during a song sequence shot on the banks of the Ganga. The fracas snowballed into a major controversy, with VHP members alleging that the shoot was preventing devotees from performing their poojas. Later, the actress publicly apologised at the insistence of director Pradeep Sarkar, but didn't forget the humiliation. Our source adds, "The entire schedule started on a bad note and that's left Rani very cranky. If even a little thing goes wrong anywhere, she starts fretting and fuming." Even senior actors like Jaya Bachchan, Anupam Kher and others are reeling with shock from Rani's abusive rantings, even going as far as to say that her gaalis would put the most seasoned of sailors to shame. A co-actor from the set reveals, "Rani plays Anupam Kher's daughter in the film. One day, a scene between them and a theatre actor was being filmed. They had to do a few retakes as the actor wasn't getting his lines right, prompting Rani to say, "He is getting nervous because he is shooting with Rani Mukerji.' Naturally, this statement didn't go down too well with the rest of the cast and crew." Bong bonding To make matters worse, Rani even refused to mingle with her co-stars. A crewmember informs, "Rani got her entire family here, including her infant niece. After wrapping up shooting for the day, she would immediately rush to the hotel to be with her family." Her mother Krishna confirms, "Yes, we made a trip to Varanasi and stayed with Rani. We were there for little more than a week." A crewmember informs, "The scene is very weird here. There's a lot of Bengali bonding happening between Pradipda, Jaya aunty and Konkona around, but Rani chooses not to be a part of it. She would get her parents along so that she could have lunch with them." When quizzed about it, Krishna defends her daughter saying, "Rani hasn't changed one bit. Her attitude towards her colleagues hasn't changed either. I don't know why people are passing judgment on her. I visited her set only twice. Most of the time, I would wait for her to finish work and get back to the hotel." |
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