Indian actress Rani Mukerji, who has managed to stay relevant in the ever-transient world of Bollywood with her sturdy body of work, is going to teach you a thing or two about standing your ground and chasing dreams in the face of adversity.
In Hichki, releasing on March 22 in the UAE, Mukerji plays Naina Mathur who lives with a nervous system disorder called Tourette Syndrome, which propels her to make involuntary grunting sounds and sudden movements. In the trailers, it is clear that this young woman isn’t your conventional candidate for a teaching job, as her interviewer points out bluntly, but she is determined to break the resistance and subtle discrimination that she faces on an everyday basis due to her disorder.
It’s a tale of the triumph of human spirit, says Mukerji. “Hichki has the message of turning your weaknesses into strength and this movie can [make] a huge impact on our lives. We need stories like that to relate to and feel better in life. Hichki comes at a time when we really need an uplifting story, which makes us believe that nothing is impossible and everything is achievable if we believe in ourselves and our goals,” said Mukerji in an interview with Gulf News tabloid!.
The mother of a toddler, who was last seen in 2014 thriller Mardaani as a fierce cop, claims she relied on her instincts to play Mathur and did not attend any acting workshops as is the norm among actors today. The disparate group of students featured in the teacher-student drama, however, attended extensive workshops under the guidance of director Siddharth P Malhotra.
“The way that I approach a role is that I want to do it spontaneously. For me, it’s about feeling the character that I play rather than preparing it like an act... I want to play this role organically,” said Mukerji.
Her work philosophy seems to have worked wonders as the award-winning actress has accumulated several trophies over the years with acclaimed films such as Black, in which she played the deaf-blind Anglo Indian woman Michelle McNally, chronicling her turbulent relationship with her ageing mentor Debraj Sahai, played by Amitabh Bachchan.
Black scooped all the major awards after its release — including the Indian National Award for the Best Film — with the challenging role proving a learning ground of sorts that prepared Mukerji to act out Mathur’s life-affirming journey.
Hichki is based on the real life story of Brad Cohen, a teacher with Tourette Syndrome whose story was made into the film Front Of The Class. The Hindi version sees Mukerji take on the central role.
So, was it exhilarating knowing that the central role is now being played by a woman? “The story isn’t gender-specific,” said Mukerji.
Here are the excerpts from our interview with the actress.
You have played a person with disabilities in Black; did that experience help you in Hichki?
I connect with the specially-abled people somewhere as I think such stories come to me somehow. But playing the role in Black changed my life dramatically. I have learnt a lot as a person after that experience. I have learnt how to be less complaining and how to be a better person through Black. You need to learn how to grab on to the opportunities and turn your weaknesses into strengths and that’s what I learnt during filming Black. Hichki has a similar message where you talk about turning your weaknesses into strength.
What do you want the audience to take away from Hichki? Was the original film Front Of The Class your only reference point?
More than the film Front Of The Class, Brad Cohen was my inspiration point to be playing this character. What I would love the audience to take back is to dwell on the education system in schools. I am sure problems exists everywhere in different parts of the world and is not limited to India. Teachers will be able to relate to the teaching methods in the film. They may even be inspired to practice it.
It may also trigger discussions among students about the discriminations and problems that they face in their lives today. Everybody in the audience have been a student at some point in their lives, so the film will resonate with them too. Hichki is a film for all generations and it illustrates how you should never to give up on your selves, your ideas, your aspirations and your dreams. Somewhere down the line, you may have also come across people who may have discouraged you to achieve your goals, but you still went ahead to conquer your goals.
What were the biggest challenges and fears about playing the role in Hichki? And what do you think we must do to be more inclusive towards differently-abled?
Playing a teacher comes with a lot of responsibilities as it’s one of the noblest of professions. And the fact that I was playing a specially-abled teacher comes with another set of challenges. So for me, the only way to understand how to be inclusive towards specially-abled is to treat them as normally as one can. That’s their only want in their lives. They don’t want the society to look at them in a different way and they yearn to be treated as normal. And the more normal you treat them, the more empowered they will be and the more normal they will feel. I feel that’s the key to ensure inclusion.
Dead Poet’s Society is my favourite life-affirming teacher/student bonding films. What has been your favourite and why?
Okay, I will have to go into the promotional zone where I tell you that Hichki is my favourite teacher-student film and it’s not just because I am acting in it. When you see the film, you will realise what I am talking about. But having said that, Black would be one of my teacher-student films because the relationship that Debraj Sahai had with my character Michelle McNally was terrific. Black and Hichki would be my all-time favourite revolving around teacher-student relationships.
How creatively involved were you in the directing/editing process of Hickhi as you are a part of the production family, too? (Mukerji is married to producer Aditya Chopra of Yash Raj Films, who has co-produced this film along with director Maneesh Sharma.)
When I am a part of a film project, I immerse myself completely in every aspect of it. I am aware of what’s happening. If I feel there’s something that needs to be done organically, then I voice my opinion and then the writers or directors take over.
Can a woman have it all — career, family and me-time? What’s your advice to all those who are trying to all those who are trying to multitask?
For a woman to have a family and to work is easy because women are known to be great at multitasking. But me-time is tricky because it disappears when we are trying to do a balancing act between the professional and personal life. The struggle to have me-time is the most important factor that goes for a toss as you balance these two spheres of life.
Who has been your inspiration and do you think teachers are under-paid despite doing noble work?
That’s going to change slowly. There’s a line in my film where I ask my father about his favourite teacher and whether he remembered that person’s salary? That encapsulates the current scenario. We all know that they are probably underpaid. But the beauty of this all is that those interested in it will still become teachers in spite of that.
You become a teacher by choice, but not by chance and that line is true to all teachers. Being in an industry where you know that there are other professions that pay better, but you still choose teaching for the love of it, because you are born with that instinct is what makes teachers stand apart. We should probably encourage facilitators of education as they are the flag bearers of change. Hichki is one step towards that.
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Hichki releases on March 22 in the UAE.
