When Yash Chopra locked Rani Mukerji’s parents in a room: ‘I’m not letting them out until…’

Actor Rani Mukerji had once revealed that Yash Chopra threatened to lock up her parents when she refused to do Saathiya. In an old interview, Rani had said that her father Ram Mukherjee and mother Krishna Mukherjee went to Yash’s office to convey that Rani didn’t want to star in Saathiya. 

Saathiya, released in 2002, is a romantic drama film directed by Shaad Ali and produced by Mani Ratnam and Yash Chopra under Yash Raj Films. The film featured Vivek Oberoi and Rani Mukerji in lead roles. It also starred Shah Rukh Khan and Tabu in special appearances.

In an interview with News18, Rani had said that after Mujhse Dosti Karoge, she waited for about eight months ‘without any work’. “At that time, refusing work, like my mother thought I had gone mad because anything that was getting offered to me I was just like ‘no, no, no’. I started taking decisions then.” When asked what she did during that time Rani added, “nothing, I just sat at home”.

She also said, “A lot of film critics and magazines had written me off and they said ‘her career’s over’ and I was okay with that. I was like probably they are right but I’m not going to give up. I’m going to take up something that my heart believes in. Then luckily Saathiya came along and I remember Yash (Chopra) uncle calling my parents to the office. My parents had gone to tell Yash uncle that ‘Rani is not interested to do this film’. He called me up and said, ‘Beta, you’re making a very big mistake. I’m locking the door of my room and I’m not letting your parents out till you say yes to the film’. And I thank him for that.”

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Meanwhile, Rani Mukerji will be next seen in YRF production Bunty and Babli 2 along with Saif Ali Khan. In the first film in 2005, Rani was paired opposite Abhishek Bachchan. In the sequel, directed by Varun V Sharma, Abhishek has been replaced by Saif opposite Rani.

The film will also feature actors Siddhant Chaturvedi and Sharvari Wagh as the new con-couple. The movie is set to release worldwide on November 19.