Rani Mukerji

Some Lesser Known Facts About Rani Mukerji

• At the time, she was born in a hospital, she was mistakenly exchanged by the nurse with some other baby. Later, her hospital tag and all the records were rechecked, and she was returned to her mother.

• After her birth, her elder brother became jealous of her as his mother used to spend more time with Rani and he wanted to kill Rani at that time.

  

• While she was in school, she wanted to become a fashion designer. However, her parents wanted her to become an actor.

  

• In her teens, she started her training in Odissi dance.

  

• She once bunked her class in school to get an autograph of the Indian actor Aamir Khan.

• When she turned 16, the Indian film director Salim Khan offered her the lead role in ‘Aa Gale Lag Jaa’ (1994), opposite Jugal Hansraj. However, her father didn’t want her to act in films at such an early age, and Urmila Matondkar later replaced her.

• Later, Salim offered her another film ‘Raja Ki Aayegi Baraat’ in 1997. At her screen test of the film, she wore clothes which were worn by the Indian actress Mamta Kulkarni in one of Salim’s films.

• Before acting in Bollywood films, she got training at Roshan Taneja’s acting institute where Jimmy Sheirgill and Chandrachur Singh were her classmates.

• At the beginning of her acting career, she did not get good offers because of her short height, dark skin, and husky voice.

• In the 1990s, she acted in a few Hindi films like ‘Ghulam’ (1998), ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’ (1998), ‘Mehndi’ (1998), and ‘Hello Brother’ (1999).

  

• While shooting for the Hindi film ‘Ghulam’ along with Aamir Khan, Rani fell on Aamir thrice after which Aamir gave her the name ‘Engine.’

• She was paired opposite Shah Rukh Khan in many Hindi films including Chalte Chalte (2003), Paheli (2005), and Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006).

  

• She has made special appearances in various Hindi songs like “Kaali Naagin Ke Jaisi” from ‘Mann’ (1999), “Maahi Ve” from ‘Kal Ho Naa Ho’ (2003), “Deewangi Deewangi” from ‘Om Shanti Om’ (2007), and “Phir Milenge Chalte Chalte” from ‘Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi’ (2008).

• She has performed in various dance concerts like Magnificent Five, Temptation 2004, Temptation 2005, and Temptation Reloaded.

  

• She has worked with Salman Khan in various Hindi films like Kahin Pyaar Na Ho Jaaye (2000), Hello Brother (1999), Chori Chori Chupke Chupke (2001), and Baabul (2006).

• Rani has appeared in a few documentaries like ‘Bollywood im Alpenrausch’ (2000; Swiss), ‘Gambling, Gods and LSD’ (2002; Canadian-Swiss), ‘The Outer World of Shah Rukh Khan’ (2005; British), and The Romantics (2023; documentary-series in Hindi).

  

• In 2000, while she was shooting for the Hindi film ‘Hadh Kar Di Aapne,’ the rumours of her secret affair with the Indian actor Govinda started. Reportedly, a reporter even caught Govinda in a night dress in Rani Mukerji’s room while the cast of the film.

• She was featured in the Hindi music video “Tera Chehra” by Adnan Sami in 2002.

• Some of her other popular Hindi films are ‘Saathiya’ (2002), ‘Hum Tum’ (2004), ‘Black’ (2005), ‘Bunty Aur Babli’ (2005), and ‘Talaash: The Answer Lies Within’ (2012).

  

• From 2004 to 2006, she was ranked No. 1 in Best Bollywood Actresses by Rediff.

• In 2004, after her film Veer-Zara was released, a few Pakistani leaders including the then Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf were invited to India where Rani was also invited for lunch. Musharraf then praised her for her acting skills in the film Veer-Zara.

  

• In 2005 and 2006, she was listed in Ten Most Powerful People in Bollywood.

• Till 2005, she was the only female to rank in the Filmfare Power List.

• In 2006, she performed in the closing ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.

• Box Office India listed her in the Top Bollywood Actresses list six times; including first rank in 2005 and 2006.

• She was also listed in Filmfare’s Best Bollywood Actresses several times.

• Apart from this, she was ranked in a few other lists like Asia’s Sexiest Women, Outlook India’s 75 Best Bollywood Actresses, Bollywood’s Most Beautiful Actresses, and 50 Most Beautiful Women.

• She was offered the lead role in the Hollywood film ‘The Namesake’ (2006), however, she turned down the offer as the dates clashed with the Bollywood movie ‘Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna’ (2006).

• In 2009, she judged the Hindi reality TV show ‘Dance Premier League’ which aired on Sony TV.

• In 2010, Rani, along with other Indian actresses, walked the ramp for Salman Khan‘s Being Human’s fantastic 40s era fashion during “The Couture for a Cause – The Being Human Show.”

  

• The Indian film directors Pradeep Sarkar and Reema Kagti once shared that Rani studied in detail about her characters in films before starting shooting for the film.

• In 2011, the American hip-hop band Blue Scholars released a song after her name in their music album Cinemetropolis.

• Rani has received appreciation from the audience and critics for her women-centric films like ‘No One Killed Jessica’ (2011), ‘Mardaani’ (2014), ‘Mardaani 2’ (2019), and ‘Mrs. Chatterjee vs Norway’ (2023).

• She has made guest appearances in various Hindi TV serials like ‘C.I.D.’ (2011), ‘Saraswatichandra’ (2013), and ‘Yeh Hai Mohabbatein’ (2018).

• In 2012, she was acknowledged by PETA India for her work towards the welfare of animals.

• She is a private person and avoids sharing her personal life with the media. She does not have any social media accounts.

• She has been termed as one of the most accomplished actresses of Bollywood by critics.

• She changed the spelling of her surname from “Mukherjee” to “Mukerji.’ It was said that it was for some numerological reason. However, she cleared that on her passport, her surname was written as Mukerji so instead of changing it, she decided to continue with the same surname.

• On 30 May 2014, she became one of the directors of the film production company Yash Raj Films Private Limited.

• At the 2023 Indian Film Festival of Melbourne, Rani Mukerji disclosed that she lost her second baby five months into her pregnancy, having conceived at the end of 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. She further added that 10 days after this loss, director Nikkhil Advani offered her a role in ‘Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway.’ She accepted the offer immediately as she was drawn to the story of the film due to her personal grief.

• She has been working for various social welfare campaigns like Shiksha by Procter & Gamble and the NGO Child Rights and You, the “Because I am a Girl” charity campaign, the “Junoon” charity cricket match, and the Bandra Holy Family Hospital charity campaign.

• Rani is an avid animal lover. She once had two pet dogs named Tin Tin and Simba. She has also won an award for saving a dog.

  

• She is a spiritual person and often visits various religious places.

  

• Reportedly, she is addicted to smoking cigarettes. ^[3]The Times of India

  

• Rani has been featured on the cover of various magazines like Filmfare, Cine Blitz, Femina, Vogue, and People.

  

• She follows a regular workout regimen to remain fit.

  

• Reportedly, she had cold wars with various Indian actors like Kajol, Aishwarya Rai, Vivek Oberoi, and Jaya Bachchan.

• Her brother Raja Mukherji was once accused of molesting a young female director by saying that he would introduce her to Rani Mukherji. Although Rani was not part of it, she was also investigated in it.

• In the initial days of her career, she maintained a distance from her cousin Kajol.

• She likes to play with her niece whom she calls Mishti.

• She dislikes when people make fun of her saying she only gets films under Yash Raj Banner.

• She has never endorsed any fairness cream.

• She is the only Indian actress to receive a Filmfare Award in the same year in the Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress categories.

Kaali Naagin Ke Jaisi

Tera Chehra