Starring: <strong>Aamir Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Rani Mukherjee, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Rajkumar Yadav</strong> Directed by <strong>Reema Kagti</strong> Rating: <strong>****</strong>

“The real reason why Rani cannot and won’t marry is her brother Raja Mukherjee. We are not surprised by what happened. He has always been an embarrassment for the family.” This startling revelation came from a friend of Rani Mukherjee’s. Rani is hurting badly over her weekend humiliation brought on by her brother’s alleged misconduct with an aspiring filmmaker.

What we saw in Rani Mukherjee’s comeback film Aiyyaa is not what we were supposed to get. One learns from very reliable sources close to the project that director Sachin Kundalkar, revelling in his image of the National-award winner, had his way over and above the wishes the producers, and insisted on editing the film the way he wanted to. A very distressed pivotal player in the fiasco that is <em>Aiyyaa</em> says Kundalkar showed a very different version of the film to his producers Viacom and Rani Mukherjee from what he finally edited and released in theatres on Friday.

Rani Mukherjee’s joy at her performance in her new film Aiyyaa being so well-received was cut short when Yash Chopra was admitted into hospital on Saturday for an attack of dengue fever. According to a friend of Rani she was worried sick to see the doyen unwell. Says the friend, “Rani cancelled all media events and visits to theatres monitoring audiences’ reaction to <em>Aiyyaa</em>. She spent most of Saturday and Sunday in Lilavati hospital by Mrs Pam Chopra , Aditya and Uday Chopra’s side.”

Starring: <strong>Rani Mukherjee, Prithviraj & A Cast Of Certifiable Lunatics</strong> Directed by <strong>Sachin Kundalkar</strong> Rating: <strong>***</strong>

Rani Mukherjee has a close connection with Lady Gaga these days. The young actress Anita Date (seen in Zor Lagake...Haiyya!) plays Rani’s best-friend in <em>Aiyya</em> who is gaga over Lady Gaga. And they all call her Gagabai. Says a source close to the project, “Rani’s character has a completely wacked-out friend named Maina played by newcomer Anita Date. She dresses up like Lady Gaga, listens to her songs and actually believes she is Lady Gaga. So everyone calls her Gagabai.”

Though she was already one by then, the first time I met Rani Mukherjee I couldn’t believe she was a star. Short, and pretty plain, she walked into my good friend Akshay Kumar’s makeup room to say hello. They were both shooting in the same studio on adjoining sets…he for Khiladi 420 and she for Har Dil Jo Pyar Karega. Akshay and I were having lunch with some friends when the door opened and Rani walked in wearing clothes that depict a typical party sequence in our films and heels so high they looked like stilts!