Bollywood’s reigning

BY ADRIENNE MCKIBBINS

It’s mid-evening in Sydney, and lunch break in Delhi for Rani Mukherjee, who agrees to take a few minutes out of her busy schedule to talk to Indian Link. Rani is in the middle of a long filming schedule for her new film No One Killed Jessica, which also stars Vidya Balan, but in early March she will head to Australia to open the Sydney and Melbourne editions of the Indian Film Festival Bollywood and Beyond 2010.

This will not be Rani’s first visit to Australia; in 2006 she was one of a number of Hindi stars who performed at the closing ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.

This visit, however, will allow Rani’s admirers in both Sydney and Melbourne to see her, when she introduces her latest film Dil Bole Hadippa to open the festival. And Bollywood and Beyond will be showcasing a selection of Rani’s best films, from the multi-award-winning Black (as she told us, it’s her favourite Hindi film), to Hum Tum, Bunty aur Babli, Paheli and KANK; it’s a season that demonstrates her range and diversity as an actress.

Rani Mukherjee has established herself as both a consummate and critically acclaimed actress and as very popular star; she’s the only Hindi performer to win both Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress awards in the same year (for Hum Tum and Yuva respectively). She has a plethora of other nominations and awards for her work.

As Rani comes to the phone and begins to talk, her warm hello in her trademark husky voice suggests an equally warm smile. Bright and articulate, she comes across as an exceedingly friendly person who is thoughtful and conscientious about her career. Tonight, however, she’s in a talkative mood, her vibrant personality evident in her voice.

We start by talking about her early career. I ask, did she always want to become an actress?

RM: I was very apprehensive and not keen to be an actress, but a longstanding family friend was very keen to launch me. I really wanted to be on the other side of the camera because my dad had been a director … but my mother was very encouraging and told me you don’t often get a chance like this, go and try it out, if it doesn’t work you can go back to your studies and normal life, and if you do OK you can continue. I was at a stage of life trying to decide on