I’ve been labelled a recluse: Rani Mukerji

The charges against her are numerous — from running the show at film-maker Aditya Chopra’s office to interfering in her directors’ work at the editing table.

While listing out the many negative stories attributed to her, actress Rani Mukerji, sitting at her cosy bungalow in Juhu, gestures for us to shut up.

“These rumours usually come from people who have never interacted with me. They have never known me and they have never bothered to know me. There are so many people who come to me and say “‘Oh! You are like this and we have heard so many things about you’. I tell them that I know who all are doing it and I can’t be bothered by them,” she says.

When all her contemporary heroines — especially Deepika Padukone, Katrina Kaif, Kareena Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor — are known to have aggressive publicity machineries in the industry, Mukerji’s silence sticks out like a sore thumb.

“I know that these days you have to be in circulation, even if you don’t have a movie release,” admits Mukerji adding, “But somehow I have never bothered to have a personal publicity machinery. So, I have been labelled as a recluse now.  And when something gets circulated against me, it’s too late for a clarification and the damage is done. I have given up clarifying to people, there’s just no point in that,” she says.

“There are times when I get to know who’s behind a particular rumour, and how it was done. But I decide against doing anything because they are the ones who will suffer in the end and not me. I don’t hold any grudge against anybody,” she adds.

Mukerji is gearing up for celebrations as her birthday is coming near (31 March). She hints that she is going on a holiday to celebrate her birthday with ‘people close to her’ after spending some time with her family. We wonder, if it’s Aditya Chopra?

“Of course, I wouldn’t tell you with whom and where. I know that there are a lot of things that people want to know from me, but now is not the time to say anything,” she trails off.