I felt honoured says actress Rani Mukherji on meeting Pervez Musharraf

Actress Rani Mukerji still clearly remembers the day — April 16, 2005 — when she shook hands with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the then-Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf. She was the only Bollywood star to greet Musharraf at Delhi’s Ashoka Hotel. Rani was included in the dinner because she was at that point of time Begum Sehba Musharraf’s favourite actor after her act as a Pakistani human rights activist in Veer Zaara.

“It was like a dream come true for me. I had a wonderful time. To just be part of such an event made me feel that, yes, I’ve done something to achieve this. All the biggest dignitaries from both sides of the border were so cultured and down-to-earth. When I was invited I was disbelieving and overjoyed,” says Rani adding that the knee-jerk reaction of Musharraf at that time was to invite her to Pakistan.

“I guess Black and Veer-Zaara (both were released before the visit) made a tremendous impact across the border. I felt completely honoured to be part of the guest list. All the Pakistani delegates were really sweet. They were taking pictures of me. The Foreign Minister (K Natwar Singh at the time) introduced me to everybody. He was so sweet. He said he’s a fan of one of my ads too,” says Mukerji.

 “When the FM introduced me to his Pakistani counterpart (Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri), he insisted that I be invited to Pakistan. They said they’d love to have me in their country any time I want to go. President Musharraf and all the other delegates said I’m very popular in Pakistan. The way they spoke and the kind of people they seem to be, I feel peace is around the corner. Let’s join hands at least in sports, cinema and other cultural events,” says Mukerji.

Rani still has very high praises of the Prime Minister as a host. “Manmohan Singh struck me as a wonderful diplomat and a perfect host… I can’t help wondering about how far my destiny has brought me. I felt so proud to represent the film industry for such an important occasion,” she ends.