That Rani Mukherjee is not her usual bubbly self these says was evident even at the premiere of "Mangal Pandey - The Rising". Her father, producer Ram Mukherjee, has been unwell with chest congestion and has been admitted to the Intensive Care Unit of Breach Candy Hospital.

"Yeah, I know. People did notice I was tense. And I am. It's because of dad. He has been unwell. I didn't want to attend the premiere. But for Aamir's sake I had to be there. If it was another premiere I'd have stayed away. But not this one. I just zipped in and zipped out for Aamir's sake."

Sounding uncharacteristically downbeat, Rani confides: "Actually my father hadn't been well for 20 days with chest congestion. When it got worse we finally had to admit him to the hospital. They discovered a pneumonic patch in his chest. It's hindering his breathing. He has been in the ICU for the last four days. Though he isn't getting any worse, he's not getting any better. We can only wait and watch."

Considering her busy schedule, this crisis must be quite a burden on Rani's time.

"I'd actually like to cancel my shooting and just be with him. But it'd do no good. They're very strict about visiting hours at the Breach Candy hospital. So I've requested my producer to let me go during visiting hours. For the rest of the time, I'm shooting. In a way it's a blessing. Otherwise, I'd just be brooding all the time," says papa's girl sounding more sombre than I've ever heard her before.