'Drew strength and inspiration from my mother': Rani Mukerji on her role in Mrs Chatterjee Vs Norway

Last seen in Bunty Aur Babli 2 (2021), Bollywood star Rani Mukerji is presently busy promoting her upcoming film Mrs Chatterjee Vs Norway, directed by Ashima Chibber.

Talking about her preparation, the actress said that she drew inspiration from her mother for her role in the film, which tells the story of a mother's battle against an entire country. The film is based on the true story of NRI couple Sagarika Bhattacharya and Anurup Bhattacharya that rocked children and human rights at an international level.

Rani said while she has not yet met Sagarika, her interpretation of the character is based on her mother Krishna Mukherjee.

"As an actor, I wanted to being my interpretation to the character. I didn't want too much of baggage and had people find similarities between my role and the real person. Ashima had many tapes recorded of Sagarika, and I saw those for some references, but the rest of the character is actually based on my mum. She's the most Bengali person I know... Be it feeding us with her hands, putting a tikka on us... I drew strength and inspiration from my mother," Rani said at a promotional event for the movie.

The actor and producer Nikkhil Advani were in conversation with filmmaker Karan Johar. Rani said Nikkhil approached him with a one-line script and didn't give her a chance to say "no".

"I told Nikkhil that he won't be able to deal with my tantrums. But Nikkhil agreed to all my conditions and didn't give me any chance to say ‘no' to the film," she added.

Praising her director Ashima, the 44-year-old actor said the filmmaker was passionate about the subject and researched it well. "When I spoke to Ashima, I realised that she was very passionate about the story because she had spoken to Sagarika and she was very involved with the subject. That love translates into the film," she said.

Mrs Chatterjee Vs Norway is produced by Monisha Advani, Madhu Bhojwani, and Nikkhil Advani of Emmay Entertainment and Zee Studios. Nikkhil said for him it was important to highlight stories of Indians based abroad.

Mrs Chatterjee Vs Norway is scheduled to be released in theatres on March 17, 2023.