Bollywood actress Rani Mukerji, who plays a feisty mother in her new performative drama ‘Mrs Chatterjee Vs Norway’, called out the double standards that exists in modern-day parenting.
The prejudice deepens if you happen to be a working mother.
Read the full story here: https://gulfnews.com/entertainment/bollywood/watch-mothers-are-always-judged-declares-bollywood-star-rani-mukerji-calling-out-sexism-1.94511671
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The prejudice deepens if you happen to be a working mother.
Read the full story here: https://gulfnews.com/entertainment/bollywood/watch-mothers-are-always-judged-declares-bollywood-star-rani-mukerji-calling-out-sexism-1.94511671
See more videos at https://gulfnews.com/videos
Read more Gulf News stories here: https://bit.ly/2HLJ2km
Subscribe to Gulf News on YouTube and watch more of our videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/GulfNewsTV
#UAEnews #RaniMukerji #Indian
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00:00this is a story that needs to be told, this is a story that needs to be heard, this is a story that needs to make noise
00:08it's a very compelling tale and it's a real life story and as a mother of three
00:12it's a nightmare just to even think that it actually happened to another human being
00:17what were your thoughts, how did you gain distance Rani
00:21exactly were my thoughts that I can't put myself in her place because it's too traumatic
00:28thought to even go through in your mind
00:33I was completely shattered when I heard about this story
00:39that an Indian family living abroad could have faced so much injustice
00:42for me when I think of Indians living abroad
00:47the picture that's always given to us is they have a great life
00:50and like everything is great about it and their lifestyle and the things but
00:55what we forget to think is what are the challenges that they face day to day in their life
01:06being Indians and living in another country and trying to embrace somebody else's cultural belief
01:12and staying true to their roots how do they retain theirs as well as live in another country
01:19and so there's a lot of challenge that Indians abroad face but
01:25but it's always sideline because of the lifestyle that everybody talks about they have a better lifestyle
01:32but with this film you actually got to hear about an Indian who suffered abroad
01:40you know because of cultural beliefs and that is what triggered in my head that oh my god and it
01:46didn't happen very late it just happened very very recently in 2011
01:54and what again got me thinking was that Indian media had extensively covered this case in 2011
02:01but being a citizen of India I still didn't know about the case till I got offered this film in
02:052021 a story that needs to be told this is a story that needs to be heard this is a story that needs
02:11to make noise you know and as an artist I just thought it befitting that a film being made on
02:19the subject and on the story of this mother who showed determination, grit, love and this never
02:26came up and she fought, she fought her husband, she fought her country, she fought in her own
02:32country to get her children back with a single-minded focus that this is my reality my children are
02:38taken away from me but never mind I'm going to fight it and I'm going to get them back and she
02:43did get them back. Being questioned for good parenting, bad parenting is just shocking I mean
02:47is that what we have been reduced to in this cancel culture you think everything we do is scrutinized?
02:53Also I think mothers are always judged like you know when a child grows up and does well
02:59it's always the father's upbringing and if the child for whatever reason is spoiled it's the
03:04mother's spoiled the child so in whatever capacity the mother is always to blame. Was it very
03:11exhausting for you to pull off this role? Rani, how did you gain distance? See I've seen my mom
03:17struggle in her life and she's the closest Bengali mother personality or figure that I have
03:24watched while growing up so Sagarika's, Devika's character was very close to home for me you know
03:32I couldn't relate to her as Rani who I am because I'm born and brought up in Bombay
03:37so I'm not a typical Bengali mom but Devika is very much like my mom so I had to channel
03:45Devika through my mom because she's the closest who I feel who has been raised in West Bengal so
03:50it was very important for me to channel Devika and make her this character which is not me.
03:56Right. I didn't want her to have anything that I have.
04:02Devika was very much Devika Chatterjee you know. Was it a tough one to pull off because you're not
04:06likable in some of the scenes? Every mother will react very differently and for Devika
04:13her single-minded focus was the pain that she felt when her children were taken away from her
04:20imagine a mother who's breastfeeding yeah you can't tell that mother to internalize the pain
04:26see for an actor it's very easy to internalize and not just do anything you know yes but the
04:31beauty of Devika's character was that she was unabashed she just wanted her children back at
04:36any cost. Right. She's not really going to think how people are going to judge her she was living
04:43her life she was not there to get brownie points that oh I need to be like her single-minded
04:52focus was I want my children back that is how women are we all women have different personalities
04:58and that's something to embrace you know the problem is people judge people who are
05:07are being themselves because everybody wants people to fit into a certain mold of how they
05:13think a person should be and that is not how people are in real life the fact that the Norwegian
05:19authorities thought that she was mentally unstable was because she was off the hook and any mother
05:26would be her madness was not in her behavior her madness was her madness for her kids do you
05:33think this is my last question that this is your career's most challenging role it is going to be
05:38a challenging journey for me as an actor but for me it was most important for me to bring
05:43Sagarika's journey to life there should be Sagarika's reaction to the film she was living
05:49every bit of the film a bit of a life through the film and it moved her to sobbing so you know for
05:56me that is a huge huge I would say victory because it is her who I played you know so it was very
06:06important for her to kind of say that you know it is very much true to her life story
06:19you