Rani: Looking Young Is A Challenge For Women

“I hadn’t realised how much I missed the set until the day I stepped on one to shoot for Hichki,” Rani Mukerji says, taking us by surprise, given that this was the same actor who spoke passionately of her daring outings like Black (2005).

It’s been four years since she last charmed viewers on screen in Mardaani, and the actor attributes this long hiatus to enjoying her life away from the cameras. “I love motherhood and am completely consumed by Adira,” she says of her two-year-old daughter. Even though Rani Mukerji “never went actively looking for anything in life,” Hichki, like many other good offers, simply came her way. “I just had to say yes. I loved it.”

The film marks her return to Bollywood after a break following her marriage to producer Aditya Chopra, and motherhood. The industry has often been criticised for its gender inequality, allowing older male actors to romance younger women, but not its female actors. However, Mukerji attributes this tendency towards the ability of male actors to mould their physique better than women.