Rani Mukerji says strong female characters are not new

Bollywood star Rani Mukerji said Hindi cinema has always celebrated strong women on screen and credits legendary performers like Nutan and Nargis for setting that foundation decades ago.

It was during an exclusive session with ‘IANS’ that Rani engaged in an insightful talk with women officers of the Delhi Police.

Talking about the portrayal of strong women in Hindi cinema, Rani said, “I believe our industry has always had very strong characters. Nutan ji did films like ‘Bandini’ and Nargis ji did ‘Mother India’. So strong female characters have always been portrayed in our industry.”

Rani, who has completed three decades in Hindi cinema, added that in her current phase, she is consciously trying to carry forward the work left behind by her seniors.

“In my own way, in this phase of my career, I am trying to carry forward the work that our seniors left behind, so that in every decade, the women who do films and the stories we bring to the screen continue to remain strong,” said the actress, whose latest release is ‘Mardaani 3’.

‘Mardaani 3’ is directed by Abhiraj Minawala and produced by Aditya Chopra. While ‘Mardaani’ exposed the grim realities of human trafficking and ‘Mardaani 2’ explored the disturbing psyche of a serial rapist who challenged the system, ‘Mardaani 3’ delves into another dark and brutal reality of our society, further strengthening the franchise’s legacy of impactful, issue-based storytelling.

Janaki Bodiwala of ‘Shaitaan’ fame also enters the ‘Mardaani’ franchise to play a pivotal role. ‘Mardaani 3’ has been written by Aayush Gupta of ‘The Railway Men’ fame. The first instalment of the ‘Mardaani’ franchise was released in 2014.