When Rani decided to take up acting she knew that it's going to take a great effort filling in the shoes of her legendary family members. Today, she is sitting pretty in major league of Bollywood heroins. Once considered the busiest actress of Bollywood, Rani has latched on to the all new strategy. She is not signing more than two 'sensible' projects in a year. Her Chalte Chalte with Shah Rukh Khan is ready for the release but Rani is not biting her nails worrying about her future in tinseltown.
She's spent most of last year wrapping up the Aziz Mirza-directed Chalte Chalte, an interesting celluloid take on matrimony, shooting a Fanta ad and doing shows abroad. And, of course, she's also got entangled in a cold war with once-buddy Aishwarya Rai. "I was the original choice in Chalte Chalte but Ash signed up because I had date troubles. When Shah Rukh approached me for Chalte Chalte I was relatively free and more than happy to step in. In fact Chalte Chalte is a feel-good look at marriage and it has some really intense stuff which makes you reach for your hankies because it has happened to you sometime in life too. Aziz and Shah Rukh have such a lot of energy, you always feel alive. As for the cold war with Ash, we haven't met up in a while, but I am sure we won't be squabbling."
Rani's semi-arthouse act in Sudhir Mishra's Calcutta Mail opposite Anil Kapoor could hit the screens earlier than Chalte Chalte: "Calcutta Mail is part arthouse, part commercial. So, I am in safe terrain. The script was taut and there'll never be a dull moment for the audience. Playing the role of a writer who is craving to live a double life was fun. I've wanted to do a film like this for years."
