Rani Mukerji on Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway: Why she said yes to the film and more

Actress Rani Mukerji gears up for the release of her latest film, Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway. Based on a real-life incident, the movie will feature the actress playing the role of a distressed mother who fights the bureaucracy to take custody of her children. In a recent interview, she shares her first reaction to the script of the movie, how she decides on what films she wants to do and more.

In a recent interview with Pinkvilla, the Mardaani actress, Rani Mukerji, shared her experience of working on her new movie, Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway. In the interview, she is asked about what her first reaction was when she heard the script. The actress recalled that she was left in ‘disbelief’. She then decided to read up on the case and she found out that ‘Indian media had extensively covered the case in 2011’ and yet she did not know anything about it.

What made Rani say yes to Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway?
She added that she said yes to the movie in an instant because ‘like her, there would be many people’ who would not know about the case. She said that it was an ‘eye-opener for her’ because whenever we talk to people living abroad we never know about their ‘trials and tribulations.’ She said that for her, “it was a story about an Indian family, living outside of India who has faced something inhuman”. The actress added that “obviously being a Bengali I connected to it even more.”

How does Rani choose her films?
The Bunty Babli actress was asked about how she chooses her scripts and how she decides what movies she wants to work on. To this, she replied, “I think what excites me today at this point of my career is that each time there is an important story to be told through an Indian woman’s perspective. That is what really triggers my emotion because I am an Indian woman myself and I have been a small child, a young Indian girl, a young Indian woman, a married Indian woman and I am a mother, so I think for me to portray Indian women emotions is very important. I want a global audience to see what we Indian women are all about which is very important because people can understand what is happening in a country through the lens of a woman staying in that particular country. So I think that is very important for me to portray each time when I am playing a character.”

Rani’s reaction to the pressures of box office
Rani was also asked about the collections her movies make and whether even at this point in her career, she feels the pressure of the box office. She replied by saying that she “absolutely feels the pressure of box office and if she doesn’t feel the pressure, she should pack her bags and leave.” She also added that actors want their movies to reach the maximum number of people and the number of people who watch the movie translates into box office numbers. She says “the more the box office the more people have gone to watch your film, so that matters the most to an actor.”