Rani Mukerji may have made her Bollywood debut with a lesser known, Raja Ki Aayegi Baraat, but she went on to do many successful movies like Ghulam, Saathiya, Black… in her career. One such film which not just did well at the box office but also won Rani immense critical acclaim is the Mani Ratnam’s cult classic, Yuva. The film completed 16 years since its release yesterday on May 21.
And on this occasion, Rani who played the vulnerable yet fiesty Shashi, shared how her favourite actor, Shammi Kapoor complimented her on her performance in the film, which touched her deeply. She said, “One of my favourite songs from the film is Kabhi Neem Neem, Kabhi Shahad Shahad….. I distinctly remember, one of my all-time favourite actors, Shammiji calling me and telling me about the Kabhi Neem Neem song. He told me how much he loved my performance especially the part where I am sitting on the chair and reacting to Abhishek’s dance.”
She further shared, “I was close to him and I have always been a huge fan of his work, especially his songs, and hence for him to call me and compliment me for the song was even more special and meant a lot to me!”
Remembering her director, Mani Ratnam’s unique style of directing, Rani shared, “I have fond memories as it was my first film under the direction of Mani sir. It was an absolute pleasure to work with him. His way of interacting with actors, I thought was really, really unique. I think working with a director like Mani Sir has helped me better my skills.”
Adding further, the actress shared, “Why it was so fascinating was because he used to direct actors with one sentence – he always said ‘please don’t act’. So I think that was something that stayed with me even till today. The fact that Mani sir manages to get natural performances from his actors is because he works towards making the actors believe that they are those characters and I think that’s something really, really wonderful.”
