Reports of Rani Mukherjee's engagement with Aditya Chopra on Monday were slapped aside by friends of the couple on Tuesday. Kirron Kher, apparently among the attendees at the event, said the news was false.
"Aditya was annoyed, but Yashji was hurt by the reports," she said, adding that neither she nor her husband were present as reported. "I was home the whole day Monday and Anupam was shooting till late into the night in Chandiwali."
Asked if she thought the relationship between Aditya and Rani was headed for an engagement, she said: "I am not the person who can comment on this; you should speak to the Chopras directly."
A top producer, one of Aditya's closest friends, also denied the engagement had happened, saying there wasn't even any talk of it within the family. The rumour followed on the heels of another story on Tuesday, in the Mumbai Mirror, which reported a growing rift between Aditya Chopra and his father Yash Chopra over Aditya's treatment of his estranged wife Payal.
Yash Chopra, one of Bollywood's legendary figures, threatened his son with disinheritance, according to the report. Aditya Chopra has turned Yash Raj into a media machine, churning out a film every two months, with a very different style from his father's.
Rani Mukherjee's proximity to Aditya has been reported on for over a year now and has been granted legitimacy by the lack of denials from either of the two. Rani ignores questions that probe that part of her life; Aditya is a classic Hollywood style recluse and only a couple of his photographs are with the press.
A phone call to Rani's home was answered by her maid, who said "everyone was home yesterday," and that there had been no event. Inquiries on Rani's whereabouts revealed that she was shooting for the Pradeep Sarkar film Laaga Chunri Mein Daag on Monday and Tuesday at Yash Raj's studios in Andheri. A unit member said: "Rani was busy with her cellphone the whole day and we know it's Aditya at the other end, but this is what happens daily. There has been no talk or rumour here of an engagement."
Aditya married Payal six years ago. He stepped into fame in 1995 with the monster hit Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, following it up with Dhoom.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Anupamaa
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