Rani Mukerji recently spoke about a personal tragedy at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM).
The actress revealed that she had suffered a miscarriage during the lockdown in 2020.
Rani was expecting her second child during the pandemic in 2020, but unfortunately, she had suffered a miscarriage and lost the baby within five months of her pregnancy.
She further revealed that she was offered Mrs Chatterjee Vs Norway ten days after the tragic incident. Talking about it, Rani explained that she had chosen not to speak about it during the promotions as she thought people would have perceived it as promotional tactics.
Talking about the heart-wrenching loss for the first time, she reportedly said –
“Perhaps this is the first time I am making this revelation, because, in today’s world, every aspect of your life is discussed publicly, and becomes an agenda for talking about your film to get more eyeballs. Obviously, I didn’t speak about this when I was promoting the film because it would have come across as me trying to speak about a personal experience that would propel the film… so, it was around the year when COVID-19 struck. It was 2020. I was pregnant with my second baby at the end of 2020 and I unfortunately lost my baby five months into my pregnancy.”
Rani also revealed that neither producer Nikkhil Advani nor director Ashima Chibber had a clue about her miscarriage.
She further mentioned that she had felt an instant connection with the story even though she didn’t need the loss of a child to feel the emotions portrayed in the film.
“After I lost my baby, Nikkhil (Advani) would have called me probably like 10 days later. He told me about the story and I kind of immediately… not that I had to have the loss of a child to feel the emotion, but sometimes there is a film at the right time about what you are going through personally to be able for you to connect with it instantly. When I heard the story, I was in disbelief. I never thought in a country like Norway an Indian family would have to go through.”
– she added.
In Mrs Chatterjee Vs Norway, Rani Mukerji played a mother who fights against the entire Norwegian authorities to win back the custody of her kids.
On the personal front, Rani got married to filmmaker Aditya Chopra in 2014 and welcomed a daughter, Adira, a year later.