Is Bollywood's rising star Rani Mukherjee the current favourite of the establishment? It would seem so from the number of times that Rani and her ubiquitous escort - her father Ram Mukherjee - are seen at state dinners in the capital.

In April, when Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf was here, Rani and her father were invitees at the select dinner that Prime Manmohan Singh hosted for the Pakistani delegation in the Convention Hall of Hotel Ashok.

It seems that Begum Sehba Musharraf is a keen fan of the Indian actor and had seen her then latest hit, "Veer Zaara", that dealt with a trans-border love affair, and chatted with her amiably about her recent films.

Rani and her father were back at the dinner that Manmohan Singh hosted for visiting Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong Wednesday at the Hyderabad House. In fact, both of them flew in from Mumbai just before the dinner began and flew back immediately after the formal sit-down dinner.

"Rani has her social graces, mixes well with people and, above all, has a star quality about her," said an official, when asked if the Prime Minister's Office had a soft corner for the star of such recent hits as "Black", "Bunty aur Babli" and "Paheli".

"Also, she makes it a point to respond to the invitations while some others - whose names were not disclosed - haughtily decline them, saying they were not worth their trips from Mumbai.