Rani reigns Bollywood

By: Smitha Nambiar
Wednesday, March 29, 2006

The sweet and petite light-eyed girl with a husky voice and down-to-earth look has the entire world at her feet today. There is a sort of genuiness about her that captivates you. She is a girl that men would like to take home to meet their mom!

Yes, of course we are talking about none other than Rani Mukherjee who seems to have taken over the tag of Bollywood queen from ex-Miss World Aishwarya Rai.

When Rani stepped into the big bad world of Bollywood with producer Salim's Raja Ki Aayegi Baraat (1997), she was known only as Kajol's cousin. It is never too easy when a new comer is compared to one of the most sort after actresses in tinsel ville. However, one must agree that she lived up to the expectations!

Though Raja Ki Aayegi Baraat flopped miserably at the box office, Rani's talent as an actress could not be ignored and she came back with flying colours in Ghulam (1998) opposite Aamir Khan. Born on 21 March 1978 and daughter of Ram Mukherjee (Director of film, Leader starring Dilip Kumar and Vaijanthymala and Hum Hindustani) and Krishna Mukherjee (She used to be a playback singer), Rani has made a place for herself under the sky.

It was the film Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998) that won her accolades. Apparently, Karan Johar had approached many leading heroines for the role including Aishwarya Rai. However all of them turned down the offer. And luckily for Rani, this proved a blessing in disguise. The role was a very small one (With Kajol in the leading role along with Shahrukh) and Rani dared to do it. In the popular chat show titled 'Koffee with Karan', Karan said that he was fearful of Rani having to do the role of a fashionable wannabe girl in the film. But he was completely 'bowled over' by the way she accepted the challenge and worked on her looks. Rani even bagged the 'Best Supporting Actress' award from Filmfare for the film, thus enhancing herself in Bollywood.

Suddenly it seemed that the world was at her feet. There was Kamal Hassan who wanted her to work in his epic Hey Ram (2000) and numerous other filmmakers who wanted her to be a part of their film.

Whether it be Bichhoo (2000), Saathiya (2002) or Chalte Chalte (2003), the lady made sure that her performance as an actress is never questioned. It was Maniratnam's Yuva opposite Abhishek Bachchan that brought out her true potential. Here was one actress who believed in the word 'experimentation' and tried every role that appealed to her. Rani as Saamiya Siddiqui in Veer-Zaara (2004) was speculated to be her career best. That was one of the few films in which the character of Rani was not used as a love triangle, and still made an impact. In fact, it was Rani who walked away with the cake rather than Preity Zinta who was the leading lady.

However, Rani had much more to offer to her fans. And then came Black (2005) which can be termed as her career best. It is amazing to note that in spite of not having any dialogues to spare or dance sequences, she managed to grasp the attention of the audience only with the sheer force of her acting skills. Rani played Michelle McNally in the film and Sanjay's Leela Bhansali's Black, inspired by the real life story of Hellen Keller and her teacher is undoubtedly her career best.

Rani has a long way to go. One can look forward to 1857: The Rising, Bajirao Mastani and Babul this year. And with each passing 'release' of Rani's films, one is convinced that Rani is truly the queen of Bollywood.

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