Shocking Revelation by Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway actress Rani Mukerji, 'My husband Aditya Chopra works with so many actresses, why shouldn't I work with any other production house outside YRF'

The team of Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway including its lead actress Rani Mukerji and producer Nikkhil Advani attended a promotional event for the film in Mumbai. It was hosted by Karan Johar. The Free Press Journal was present at the do.  

Rani, who was last seen breaking bones in Mardaani 2 (2019), tells how much producer Nikkhil Advani wanted her to headline this film. “It was the month of January 2021, I received a phone call from Nikkhil, though we have bumped into each other many times but we were never in touch on the phone. I was surprised to receive his call. He told me that he has a script for me and there is nobody who can play this character other than me. This is a story inspired by a real life incident that took place in Norway in 2012,” she explains.

“When I heard that the two children of a mother have been confiscated by the authorities of a country, I felt Nikkhil was joking. I was eager to know the charges, and surprisingly it was our culture; feeding our own kids with our hands, making them sleep beside us up to a certain age, putting black tikka, etc. I was shocked and emotionally charged. I read about the real story and was a no-brainer for me,” she adds. 

Rani, who plays Debika Chatterjee, didn’t meet the real mother (Sagarika Chakraborty) to have a reference point to play her on-screen. “I never met Sagarika. As an actor, I wanted to bring my interpretation as Mrs Chatterjee. I didn’t want any kind of baggage of people finding similarities and dissimilarities between the two. I knew the emotions that she went through because I sat with my director Ashima (Chibber) over the script many times. I went through the tapes of the chats between Sagarika and Ashima and grabbed her emotions which were important for the character. It was her struggle, anger, frustration, mother’s love and the loneliness that she went through. I wanted to know about Sagarika’s journey,” she reveals.

Sharing further Rani also took reference points from her own mom Krishna Mukerji while performing this character. She explains, “To play my part, the only person that came to my mind was my mom. I have taken my mother and put her into Mrs Chatterjee, someone who is connected to her roots. My mother got married to my dad 50 years ago when she was 21 years old. She came to Mumbai but being born and bred in Kolkata, she was such a pure Bengali at heart. Whether she speaks Hindi or English, she sounds like a Bengali. Imagine how she would react if someone would take Raja (my brother) and me away from her or now Adira (my daughter) from me.”

Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway is backed by Nikkhil, Monisha Advani and Madhu Bhojwani and not Rani’s home banner. “My husband (Aditya Chopra) works with so many actresses, why shouldn’t I work with any other production house outside? Hope people know by now that I am open to work with any production house outside YRF,” she laughs. 

Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway is slated for a March 17 release in cinemas.

KJo’s sweet memories…

Filmmaker Karan Johar recalls an interesting tidbit during the event. He shares, “Life has come full circle. Aditya Chopra had asked me to watch a girl in Raja Ki Aayegi Baaraat (1997). He informed me that this  girl looks beautiful and has a wonderful style. I watched the trailer and decided to meet her. My associate director Nikkhil Advani and I went to meet this girl. I narrated the story of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998) very passionately to Rani and she agreed to do the film. Nikkhil, Rani and I were together then and surprisingly with Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway, we three have come together once again.”