Over a decade ago in 1996, there stepped in a new girl into the industry, like umpteen others, with a film which in no way showed any class. The film was 'Raja Ki Ayegi Baraat' and the heroine was Rani Mukherjee (now Mukerji). Before debuting in a Hindi film she had already worked in a Bengali movie 'Biyer Phool' and did show some promise, but didn't really look pretty and tall enough to reach the top slot in Bollywood. And truly enough she had to wait for another two years before she got her next shot at films and this time opposite none other than superstar Aamir Khan in the hit 'Ghulam'. Rani struck it immediately and suddenly she turned the 'A' grade heroine as she bagged the Shah Rukh starrer 'Kuch Kuch Hota Hai' (1999) after that. And though it was just a cameo, she was declared as the new 'it' girl in B-Town. She even bagged the Filmfare Best Supporting Actress award for this role.Rani worked with the next big Khan – Salman - within a year, stamping on the fact that she is indeed the choice of the big league, especially since the old queens like Kajol and Madhuri were phasing out.
The upward swing
She went on to act with other big stars like Govinda, Kamal Hassan, Anil Kapoor and Hrithik Roshan in the next couple of years. However, that stamp of class in her performance still eluded her and so did a single hit since 'KKHH' till a new director, Shaad Ali, gave a new direction to her career with 'Saathiya' which released in 2002. The film brought her both critical and commercial acclaim and Rani was suddenly the fancied Saathiya of every teenager. That film got her the Filmfare Best Actress award for the first time.
Times changed and Rani was suddenly capable enough to carry an entire film on her shoulders as well. And if 2002 have her one big hit, the next year gave her two of the biggest hits of recent times – 'Chalte Chalte' and 'Kal Ho Naa Ho' – both with Shah Rukh Khan. 'Chalte Chalte' got her the BBC Film Café Best Actress award. And while she appeared as the perfect Yash Raj baby who could shed tears at the word go, Rani Mukerji was also the actress who could be associated with the noir genre as she starred in films like 'Calcutta Mail'. She also showed that she could easily do other unconventional roles too in films like 'LOC Kargil', 'Yuva' and 'Paheli'. She was soon crowned the Rani (Queen) of Bollywood.
2004 saw two landmark performances from her – 'Yuva' and 'Hum Tum'. While 'Yuva' got her the best supporting actress award, 'Hum Tum' got her the award for best actress in a lead role, making it a clear sweep. She also became the first actor ever to do so. Kunal Kohli's 'Hum Tum' was also a landmark in terms of story telling. The year, in fact, was a landmark for Rani in personal measures too as it saw her linked to two heroes within a space of months – Abhishek Bachchan and Saif Ali Khan. The same year also saw her starring with Shah Rukh once again in Yash Chopra's last directorial 'Veer Zaara'.
The next year saw Rani coming up with what could be called her best performance till date in 'Black'. The black-robed deaf, dumb and blind character in the film opened the audience to a spellbinding experience winning her awards and appreciation galore. She won the best actress award for this movie yet again.
The year also saw the rumours of her link-up with Abhishek getting cemented further when they did some sensuous scenes for the movie 'Bunty Aur Babli', which incidentally, was directed by same director who gave her 'Saathiya'. She starred in a total of four films that year – each as big as the other. The other two being - 'Mangal Pandey: The Rising' with Aamir Khan and 'Paheli' with Shah Rukh Khan. What's important about 'The Rising' is that it was the first time that Rani played a prostitute. The film sunk.
With repeated success she became one of the biggest stars in the overseas market too. And stage show organisers poured in money for Rani Mukerji performances. She was a part of Shah Rukh's world tour Temptations. The association with Shah Rukh and Karan Johar continued along with a strengthening of friendship in 'Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna', which became the highest grosser overseas till then. Rani was even voted heroine No.1 in a ranking by Filmfare.
The downward dip
But of late, especially post 'Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna', success seems to be playing hide and seek with the queen bee. Her subsequent releases last year (2007) not only showed that she was losing the charm, but also getting repetitive. The year did give her a semi-success with 'Ta Ra Rum Pum', but the much hyped project 'Lagaa Chunari Mein Daag' and 'Saawariya' ended in a whimper. Worse, she played a prostitute in both the latter movies, creating an adverse impact on her good girl image.
Currently Rani is trying to recuperate from the blood drawn last year with her 'Hum Tum' director Kunal Kohli. Reports suggest that she is playing an angel this time in his untitled film. Let's hope with her angelic act Rani will be able to bounce back in the age of Deepika Padukone, Katrina Kaif and Priyanka Chopra.
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