Rani Mukerji on being married to Aditya Chopra, getting her voice dubbed in Ghulam and more

It was an afternoon steeped in nostalgia, vulnerability and quiet triumph as Rani Mukerji marked 30 years in Hindi cinema with an intimate on-stage conversation in Mumbai, moderated by filmmaker and long-time friend Karan Johar. Excerpts from the chat... ‘My parents wanted to marry me off’Looking back at her early years, Rani spoke at length about growing up in a financially strained household and how cinema entered her life out of necessity, not ambition. “At that time, it was more about being in a very humble Bengali family. My dad and mom tried to make ends meet. I used to see them struggle through their days. There were times when my mom was not able to buy me a particular thing that she really wanted to buy for me because of certain challenges that came with not being economically very sound,” she said. “But I saw my mom go through those days with so much happiness, with that bright smile and that laughter of hers. It never came in the way of our happiness. That is something that I’ve imbibed from her — that whatever the circumstances are, whatever the situations are, one has to smile through and go forward," she added. Rani acknowledged that acting was never a childhood dream. “My mum pushed me to do the movie, and she said, ‘If this doesn’t work, you can always go back to studies.’” "I don’t even think they had dreams, Karan. It was never really something that occurred to my dad. When I was offered the film, my mom said, ‘Why don’t you take it up and see how it goes?’ I never realised then that my mom was probably finding a way to make the financial situation in my house better.”Speaking about her debut Raja Ki Aayegi Baraat, she said, “That was one movie where I didn’t know what I was doing. I was following my mum’s instructions. My mom wanted me to do it. Whatever best I could do, I did.”She added bluntly, “My parents wanted to marry me off. I started working because I had to support my family. There was no plan to be an actor, no blueprint for stardom. I was a child. I didn’t know how the industry worked. I didn’t know how tough it could be.”‘It was extremely upsetting’One of the most emotional moments of the evening came when Rani revisited the decision by the makers of Ghulam to dub her voice. “As a newcomer, you don’t have much of a choice. For me, it was a big thing to be able to do a film with Aamir. He was one of the superstars,” she said. She recalled, “Aamir explained to me that for films we have to sacrifice certain things for the best of the film, for the best of the movie, and probably your voice is not apt for the character. He asked me who my favourite actress was and without blinking I said Sridevi. He gave me an example of how Sridevi’s voice was dubbed in a lot of her films, and it didn’t stop her from being the star that she became... It was a little upsetting for me, but I couldn’t show it because you have to be a team player. And they went ahead and dubbed my voice." ‘Thanks to you, Karan, I was able to retain my voice’Rani credited Karan Johar for a turning point that changed her relationship with her own voice. “I really owe this to Karan. We were shooting for the trailer of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. You came up to me and you said, ‘Rani, are the people dubbing your voice in Ghulam?’ I said yes.” “You said, ‘Do you have a problem with dubbing?’ I said no. You asked, ‘Did you dub your first film?’ I said of course. And then you said, ‘I love your voice. You will dub for my film.' I still remember that clearly. Thanks to you, Karan, I was able to retain my voice.”She added, breaking down, “Your decision as a young filmmaker — it was your first film — you could have easily been swayed by pressure, but you stood your ground. You believed in my voice. You believed in me. And I got to retain my voice in all my films.”‘It broke my father’s heart’Rani also spoke about professional heartbreaks, including not winning the National Award for Black. “It broke the heart of all my fans. It broke my father’s heart. It broke my mom’s heart,” she said, adding, "Yes, it does hurt. But the way I have conducted my career and my life — I started off because my mom asked me to be an actor. I realised that through my work I could give my parents a better life. My goal was never to win an award so that it makes me happy. Winning awards is about recognition for the entire team. As an actor, I have to constantly keep working.”On love, partnership and familySpeaking about her husband Aditya Chopra, Rani said, “He is really very simple. He didn’t come with any baggage of being Yash Chopra’s son or being who he is. If he had even an iota of ego, I don’t think I would have fallen for him. When I see him with our daughter, it reminds me of my days with my dad. The kind of time he spends with her makes me very happy.”The afternoon ended on a deeply emotional note when Rani read out a letter written by her daughter, Adira:“Hello mama. First of all, I just want to say how much I love you. You’re the best mother in the world. We have shared countless memories — joyful, tearful, and funny. Some qualities I like about you, some I don’t, and some I’ve inherited from you..."