The Return of the Queen

The Bhaidas Hall in Vile Parle is an unlikely place for Rani Mukerji to announce her comeback to Bollywood.

But that is where the gorgeous actress is, surrounded by kids who clutch her long flowing skirt while she sings and dances with them on the songs of Thoda Pyar Thoda Magic , in which she is playing an angel. The kids are excited and keep screaming, “Rani didi, Rani didi.” Didi is fun and games, and one hour later, she turns apologetically and says, “Now I’m all yours, ask me whatever you want.”

Exhausted, nursing a torn ligament (“it’s no big deal, injury is part of my profession”), she manages a 1,000-watt smile nevertheless. One of those Rani specials that light up the screen. “Kunal Kohli’s Thoda Pyar Thoda Magic with Saif Ali Khan will be my first release of the year. I play a character straight out of fantasy. It’s tough playing an angel as I have to keep flying. I’m always in mid-air, pulled up by a harness, I feel like Hrithik in Krrish,” she laughs.

Rani has been selective, of late. “I would love to do four-five films a year, but I’m not happy with the scripts offered to me,” admits the actress who is also working on Yashraj’s next film with Shahid Kapoor. But, whether she does films or not, Rani says that her fans continue to love her. “They loved me then, when I did films like Ghulam and Bichoo, and they love me now when I’m playing an angel.” Is she deliberately being reclusive? “No, I’m not,” she protests. “It’s just that the dos that I attend are not attended by the media. I’m more of a family person. After a day’s work, I prefer to go back to home to my niece Myeisha.”

What’s her equation with Saif in this film? Rumours are that the two don’t get along well. “Earlier we didn’t get along that famously. We are not the best of friends. But, yes, after we did Hum Tum, we got to know each other and now when this film was offered to us, we were more than happy to act opposite each other. We have grown together as actors. We inspire each other,” she reveals. Rani’s done films with most of the big actors from the Big B to Kamal Hassan and all the reigning Khans of Bollywood. But she’s not worked Akshay Kumar. “Akshay and I want to do a film together but it’s strange that we don’t like the ones offered to us. Akshay keeps telling me, ‘Arrey yaar, yeh bhi script achcha nahin hai,’” she laughs.