Sarita A Tanwar (DNA; July 30, 2014)


How has life changed after marriage?
I think very little changes for girls like us who are from the cities, and get married to… like I am married to a very modern man. So, in that sense, nothing has really changed. My day or the way I dress hasn’t changed. I think life changes drastically for girls who come from a different strata of society. They have to follow a new rulebook at home. For me, the only change is physical. I moved from my present place to his house. But it’s very normal because my mother-in-law is independent, too.

Does she live with you?
No. Nothing new has happened apart from the fact that I have started looking after the house my mother-in-law used to look after, previously. So, I have become the boss of the house in that sense, running the show. Like aaj sabzi kya banegi to the nitty-gritty of the house.

You have played strong female characters in recent years. Is that how you are?
Yes. I have always been attracted to strong women-oriented roles. Right from my first film Raja Ki Aayegi Baaraat to say Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Hey Ram, Yuva, Hum Tum, Saathiya, Bunty Aur Babli, Black… every role has been powerful and has a message for women in some way or the other. It was not a conscious decision to do films like that, but when I am reading a script, I relate to strong characters, which attract me more than soft ones. I think that has worked for me. Going forward, it will always be a part of me.

You play a tough cop in Mardaani.
What really excited me, was that I have never played a cop before. I have always been intrigued by women who work in the so-called man’s world. During my research for the film, I spoke to all the senior crime branch officials. Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Himanshu Roy told me that “In this unit, we have a female officer and she is actually much better than the male cops there.” To hear these things is so inspirational. Almost all male actors have played cops. It’s easy to show them in a larger-than-life avatar. In this film, we have taken the real route. I have never done action, my body language had to change and I had to start thinking like a cop. See, when I did my research, when I meet people from the military or people from the police academy, the first thing that comes my mind is, how do they go about their daily life, knowing that there is a threat to their life? We are in a profession where we might die in a plane crash, car crash or a natural calamity. But they live their life dangerously. They could be shot any time... how do they cope with that? The answers that I got from them is that one can’t do such a job unless they have love for the country.

Which of your characters one do you identify the most with?
Strangely, I identify with a lot of my characters. In Hum Tum, I identify with Rhea Prakash because she was a modern-thinking girl. Like the scene with Saif at the church, was the clincher. When she asks Saif, ‘Do you want to marry me just because we spent the night together? We don’t have to be married for that reason.’ I love Michelle from Black because she says that nothing is impossible. That is the spirit. I might go through a bad time, through career lows, flops, etc, but there is nothing in this world that you cannot achieve and you always have to be with that thought. My character from No One Killed Jessica was a go-getter. I identify with that determination, grit, passion and enthusiasm to go about your career. I don’t believe that it is difficult for women to handle careers once they get married or have children. Look around, from journalists to cops, all women have families and children and nothing is stopping them from achieving their goals. The time has gone where women gave up everything once they got married. The good part is that the men have got more independent in their way of thinking. They don’t respect women who sit at home and belo rotis.

Okay, there is speculation that you will be part of running the studio. Comment.
My marriage has not suddenly created a need for a change in the studio’s functioning. It was running extremely well and will do so even now. My being there or not will hardly make any difference. But the thing is because I am attached to Adi and I have been part of the industry. Tomorrow, if I am asked for my opinion or input, of course I will give it because it’s my husband’s company.

Do you see yourself taking up a role in the company?
Not unless Adi thinks so. If he feels that way, I’ll be more than happy to do it, but at present, I think there are capable people doing it.

Let’s talk about Adi. He’s undoubtedly one of the most amazing minds when it comes to running a studio. But what is he like, as a person?
He is very normal. Let me start by saying that, because people have this notion that he is not social. He is a very regular guy, very simple at heart and he’s one of the most amazing human beings I have come across. That’s the reason I fell in love with him and the reason he is my husband today. I am not saying this because he is my husband. I am just being honest when I say that I have never come across any person who has only good things to say about everybody. After being in the industry for so many years, it was difficult to look up to someone because I have seen everyone’s good, bad and ugly here. I have never heard him till date saying one wrong thing about anyone in the industry. And that in an industry where people’s daily pastime is only bitching. Adi is occupied with work, so he has no time for things like that. He is the most positive human being I have come across. He only encourages people. He calls a spade a spade and minds his own business. If you go to him for advice he will give it to you without mincing words. He doesn’t go anywhere, which is the thing I love about him. Because if he had to go everywhere I would have got bored because I hate dressing. I, too, hate going everywhere, so it suits me just fine. We have our small set of friends and we are very happy in our little world.

Which is how it should be.
Which is how it should be and I think for a healthier and longer life, I think the most important thing to keep it basic because he is a writer. He has to be close to the normal things because if you are not close to normal things, you won’t be in touch with reality. And a filmmaker cannot do that.

He watches a film every Friday with the audience, right?
Yes. And he keeps telling me that is why he has fought for his anonymity for so many years... to be able to do that. He tells me, ‘Look what God has done to me, he has given me an actress as a wife!’ Because of me, he is in the news and his pictures are appearing everywhere and he hates that. He wants an anonymous life for his work. I feel that’s great and I am very happy to let him be.

Did he ask you not to discuss him because he is such a private person?
No. I don’t think he has a problem with that. He just says, ‘Why should people know about me. I don’t think people are really interested.’ His point of view is: Why do they want to know who I am? They should just see how my movies are. He is genuinely like that. It’s not like he is putting on an act.

Is he going to direct a film with you?
(Laughs) That he’ll never want because he knows that he will never be able to control me on the set. But that is one thing that I will really miss and regret all my life is that I couldn’t get directed by Adi as he is one of my favourite directors. So that’s a missed opportunity. But he says ‘Never say never in life’, so probably a few years later… We will give it time.

I believe he gave you the most beautiful Bengali wedding in Italy. Did you tell him what you wanted?
No, I had always wanted a Bengali wedding and he always knew that. So he told me very sweetly, I will do whatever you tell me on that day. The traditional Bengali dhoti, etc, everything he did for me in the Bengali style, it was very sweet.

You were to get married sooner but it had to be postponed because of his dad’s demise…
Yes. We were to get married two years ago actually. Both Adi and I wanted to get married at a time when he had some time on hand because he keeps so busy. He wanted everything to happen in a way ki sab aaram se, at the correct time. But I think destiny had to have it in such a way that it had to happen now.

What was your parents’ reaction when you first told them about Adi?
Actually, now that you are asking me, I don’t remember. I will have to ask them what their first reaction was.
Obviously, they’d met him because he has worked in Yash Raj. No, no they had met him earlier, too. I think it happened the first time he came home to ask me out on a date. It was very sweet because I had never been on one.

You had never been on a date?
Ya, so it was very sweet of him.

Your husband was your first date?
Ya, my husband was my first date because before this, I have only been working in studios.

Where did he take you, given that he hates being in public?
You know, we managed to go everywhere. It’s just that we don’t have people call up and say, ‘Oh we are going here and we are going there.’

Oh yes, that happens... leaking the news of parties and outings to the media.
We go out everywhere, we go out with friends but I have started having a very normal and beautiful life with Adi and because of him, I have redeveloped my passion for food. He is a foodie and has introduced me to such gastronomical extravaganzas! I am like... do these foods actually exist? He has taken me around the world and fed me incredible stuff. It has become difficult for me to maintain my weight now!

Is he a better husband, a better boyfriend or a better boss?
I won’t say boss, because it has been a long time since he was my producer. But to give him his due, I think he is the best producer. The way he produces films, the way he spoils his actors and his production team, there is nobody better. He is very friendly. It’s not as if people can get scared or intimidated talking to him. They can tell him anything under the sun, so that’s a great thing and a great quality that a person should have. But if I had to compare between a boyfriend and husband, then it’s too quick now since it’s just been two months. But I would still say, ‘Chalo, he is a better husband since the wedding’.

What sort of relationship do you have with Mrs Chopra and how has it changed over the years? Do you remember your first meeting with her?
Actually, I remember it very clearly. I had done Mujhse Dosti Karoge with Yash Raj Films. We had gone to Switzerland for the outdoor. At that time, aunty used to handle the food and everything, so she used to take the orders and all. She would sweetly ask me, ‘Beta, what do you like to eat?’. I told her, ‘Aunty, I don’t eat roti, so please make rice for me’. She used to make sure that rice used to be made every day at that time. And of course because Yash uncle was so fond of me and I used to meet them socially very often, there was a lot of warmth and lot of love from her side. And of course, now that I have become the daughter-in-law, it’s very different because it’s amazing to sit with her and hear stories about Yash uncle, about their love story and about their times when Adi was young, his childhood and all the little, little things. It’s amazing because I think all the wives will relate to what I am saying. When I look at her, I just feel more love for her because then I realise that my husband has come out of her. So, it’s a very surreal thing that you start loving the mother-in-law and you thank God that she produced him, so that he could be my husband.

I know... somebody told me that you were a great support to her when Yash uncle passed away.
I think we were all there. I think she is a very strong, independent lady. I have never come across a person who is so strong, so independent. She is an incredible person. I can actually imagine why uncle was so besotted by her (because she actually had that personality). I think aunty gets it from his mother and sometimes, I tell Adi he is a replica of his mom.

Really, I thought he was more like his dad.
No, I think he has some qualities of his dad as well, but obviously how aunty is. I think Adi is a lot more like aunty.

Most of your contemporaries are either out of work or on TV, how have you managed to stay relevant?
I don’t know. I think the way I have conducted my life from day one… My dad was in this profession and his words to me were, ‘You are joining the industry, but you have to remember one thing. Don’t let success get you over-excited and don’t let failure depress you. Always maintain a balance. That’s the balance I have always tried to maintain in life and I don’t make a conscious decision of doing a certain thing because I am not a manipulative person. It’s very simple. If somebody reaches out to me, I will reach back to that person. Like I will not go out of my way to talk to a person because I need something but if somebody calls me, my nature is to keep to myself and I think that is something I was born with. My mom is more outgoing. She always asks me, ‘Why are you sitting at home, go out and meet friends, do this and do that.’ My brother is very outgoing. I am the opposite. I love being at home, that’s why I think I am probably going to be a good wife. I don’t like going out that much. I love travelling, that’s a different thing but I have started enjoying travelling with Adi. That’s what I love doing most.

Priya Gupta (BOMBAY TIMES; July 13, 2014)

Rani Mukerji and Adi Chopra started seeing each other almost four years back and got married this year. While none of them have ever spoken anything about it, Rani opens up for the very first time. Excerpts:

There was so much speculation about your date of marriage. What eventually made you decide on marriage?
There has always been a lot of pressure on us, from both sides, to get married. Yash uncle kept telling me, 'Get married' and that is the only regret in my life that we didn't get married in front of him. Our initial plan was to get married right after Jab Tak Hai Jaan. But, as destiny would have it, that was not meant to be and we had to wait for a year. Everyone close to us knew that we would get married and there was no suspense or doubt about that. The doubt was only amongst people who did not want us to get married. Adi has been so busy and I wanted him to be a little easier when we got married. In people's minds, who don't really know us, our marriage was hyped, but in our heads, it was always a yes we will, but then Yash uncle had expired and then one day we decided since Adi was a little free this year, we would get married. It may sound uncanny, but the day we decided is the day my dad got an attack. It was 2 at night when mom called to say come as dad had got an attack. For one minute, we had actually lost him. I was shooting and Adi and I reached dad and got him operated. They fitted an advanced pacemaker inside his heart. And we asked the doctor if we could take him for a family holiday and if he could travel. He asked, 'How many hours is the flight? and once we said 6-7 hours, he gave us permission.

We prayed and prayed as, if something would have happened to dad, then we would have had to cancel everything. We took him with us for three days, he did my kanyadaan and he came back. Adi and me stayed back. Can you imagine that as soon as my dad came back, the next day he was again admitted in the ICU for his kidney problem. Everytime I called him from there, my mom would hide it from me as the doctors and she had decided to keep me out of the loop till I returned. I came back after a week and as soon as I landed, I asked my mom to give dad the phone and that is when she told me that he had been admitted. From the airport, I went straight to Breach Candy hospital where I stayed with him for the next 20 days.

Talk about your wedding?
We went to Italy as we thought it would be beautiful and the weather would be nice. We were just 15 of us and Adi wanted to take over an entire hotel, so we did that. We had decided so fast that within four days, I got my wedding lehenga made. I always wanted to get married the Bengali way. And he sweetly listened to everything and was very much a Bengali groom.

Has life changed for you post marriage?
Marriage is very hyped, I would say. The only change is that physically I go and stay in his house. I am married to a man, who is very modern in his thinking even though very traditional in his heart. There are no rules laid down for me and I feel I am married into my own family. Of course, my parents miss me as I don't get to see them everyday, but I try to make sure that I see them as often as I can.

Talk about Adi and you?
Adi calls me a 24-hour entertainment channel. He says, 'You never know at what point which channel she can come to.' With me, you have to give love to get love and he loves me a lot. He likes the quality that I am so unabashed. We both are dominating, but I am a little more in the house. I am a full Bengali that way and, I think, he likes that about me, as I don't think anyone can control him. He is very happy being controlled.
Even Pam aunty is happy with that and she tells me that.

Talk about Pamela Chopra?
I am practical, but I am also romantic at heart and have grown up watching Yash uncle's Chandni and Lamhe. In any house where women are respected, the household will prosper and I think that Yash uncle prospered because the men of their house treat their ladies really well and with equality. And they have a lot of love and respect for them. When I see Pam aunty today, I find her an amazing woman and when I hear stories of Yash uncle and Adi's childhood from her, I realise that Yash uncle's strength lies with her as she was always there, even professionally. He would bounce off his scripts to her and they were a wonderful couple. He would always pull her leg and she would blush. She is such an independent and modern-minded woman and I admire that about her. She is such a dynamic personality and I look up to her as an individual. I admire the way she battled her cancer and yet, she is so spirited and is a beautiful looking woman. Adi loves her. Adi and I aspire that our relationship is like Yash uncle and hers.

You seem to be a secure person?
All we need in life is to be happy, eat well and sleep well. As long as these three things in life are there, what else can shake you? Luckily for me, I became the bread earner for my family very early and therefore became wise very early. I have seen my parents struggle from very close quarters, so have always put my want and wish behind everything. And today, because Adi has known this about me, my wish is his command. The really big change post marriage is that I truly feel like a queen. Because for Adi, his sole purpose is to make me happy. People around me tell me that since I have dedicated my life to my parents, this was God's way of balancing out. To give me a man who loves me the way my parents do. Adi and I are probably made of the same fibre. He spoils me rotten and keeps saying, 'I just want to spoil you'. Its strange that he is the only person in my life where I was very happy that he was spoiling me. I have never liked others doing anything for me and I have always done things on my own. I have always been the giver. But in my relationship with Adi, I love him being the giver. I hear about independent working women feeling awkward taking money from their husbands, but I don't feel awkward at all. I just feel that I was meant to be here, meant to be his lover and wife. He always says, I was born to love you. He will tell me, 'Take this money, go and splurge'. But one thing I have learnt from him is the value of money. He never splurges unnecessarily. Since I have earned my own money, I would spend it the way I wanted to, but Adi despite being large-hearted is very khandaani. For instance, he will say, 'Why do you want to buy three things if you need one?' And I have tried to spoil him by buying him five things which he does not want. So we are a good balance. I love everything about him except that he is too workaholic.

Why is Adi so elusive?
If you are in this profession, you are in it for work and not for the parties you attend. You are valued for how good you are in your work and not with how much you can entertain in a party. He meets everybody and he prefers intimate get-togethers. Adi's way of unwinding is to come home and eat good food, watch TV or see a good film. I love the fact that he is elusive and that he does not want to go anywhere. So I don't need to dress up and go anywhere and I love that about him. If I was to have a man who was too social, I would have hated it. I am too happy that he doesn't go anywhere. The kind of personality he is I could have fallen in love with only this kind. He is in the industry and yet is not in it. The reason I got attracted to him is that he is so not there. And I am just like him. If you ask my mother she will say, 'I have to kick Rani to go outside'. And I have been like that since I was a kid. She would always be forcing my brother to take me out. Also Adi enjoys being in complete touch with the audience and likes to live the life of anonymity as he wants to do the normal things. And that is where he gets his inspiration for his movies from. I keep hearing from him all the time how now he hates the fact that I have made him slightly popular due to his pictures coming out in the media. And that is the only thing he despises me for being in his life.

Are you looking at starting a family?
Of course, as that is why we are married. And I want to expect soon. Every woman is born to procreate and God has given us that magic power to bring another human being into the world. So, why should we not use that and play God for once? A woman comes closest to being God when she creates another being. Adi always teases me, 'You are born to become a mother. You should have had babies when you were born only'. So yes, I am completely looking forward to becoming a mother. But movies is my first love and that is what has given me confidence and a say in this world. It has also given me a big family in the film industry and today I am married into a family that has only made love stories. I have a lot to be thankful for. And I definitely feel that whenever I will get a good script, I will work. Adi is also today's man and admires women who are working. He will never ask me to not work. He will not enjoy me being a housewife and will respect me more if I am working. Working is a luxury being in a family in which I am and I won't give that away. Now whether it is working as an actor or behind the scenes, that only time can tell. But I can say very confidently that I will work all my life.

Do you miss Yash Chopra?
I have never met a more beautiful person in my life than Yash uncle. I say this as his actress, as his daughter-in-law and someone who had a relationship with him. During the last almost four years that I was Adi's girlfriend, Yash uncle was there with me for two years and during that time he showered a lot of love and gave me a lot of blessings. We would go out to eat out and I would bake cakes for him. What I loved most about him was that he treated everyone equally. He had a lot of life in him. At his age, he needed to see his grandchildren and I wish he was alive to see us married.

Did you cry on your wedding remembering him?
I cried and I knew it had to happen. Adi thinks I have a tap and can cry at the drop of a hat. The beautiful thing about the wedding was that Adi told me on the flight, 'Dad is going to be with us on our wedding day'. I said, 'If he is there, then it will rain', as he used to love the rains. And it so happened that there was a storm just before I entered the mandap. Adi looked at me and I looked at him and we both smiled and we knew he had come.

Sonali Joshi Pitale (MID-DAY; May 10, 2014)

If sources are to be believed, Rani Mukerji, who recently tied the knot with Aditya Chopra, has decided to increase her fees for brand endorsements.

Says a source, “A well-known construction company has built a huge tower in south Mumbai and they had approached Rani to be the face of this luxury property. After initial talks, the actress is said to have demanded a whopping amount of Rs 6 crore and the company officials felt that her fee was a tad too high. They have decided to not sign her on; instead, they are looking for another actress.” It is said that the actress commanded a fee of Rs 3 crore before becoming Mrs Chopra.

However, a person close to the actress says, “Rani has not really hiked up her asking price. It’s just that her fees vary depending on the product in question.” Rani’s spokesperson denied the buzz, saying that she has not been approached by any such brand.