Mumbai, May 27 -- Rani Mukerji isn't too pleased with Sanjay Leela Bhansali. A few days ago, the filmmaker stated in an interview that Rani wanted the title Hadippa from him, but since he had kept it for sister Bela Segal's movie, he could not comply. Following which, he had said, "They then added two words, 'Dil Bole' with Hadippa and used it as Dil Bole Hadippa (2009). I was upset about it. I thought that wasn't done."
Just the fact that Bhansali has dragged her into this rather old issue has shocked Rani, who delivered an award-winning performance under the director's guidance in Black in 2005. "Sanjay needs to tell me why he has involved my name," she retorts, adding, "Probably because I mediated between Adi (producer Aditya Chopra) and him. I wanted things to happen in an amicable manner, but since they didn't, Yashraj (producers of Dil Bole Hadippa) did what they had to do."
Being an actor, Rani accepts she can't possibly take a title away from anyone. "This is not my department. An actor only acts. Sanjay is also aware of the fact that it's never an actor's prerogative. Yes, as a friend, I tried to mediate, but the final decision was taken by the producers," says Rani, who doesn't feel what Yashraj Films did was wrong in this case.
"If Dil Bole Hadippa released, Yashraj must have got permission from the concerned authorities to go ahead with it. There are a lot of technicalities involved. You can't simply take a title," she says.
Ask Rani why her good friend Sanjay brought up her name and she shoots back, "You need to ask Sanjay why he did so. I don't know how I came into the picture." However, the actor continues to insist that she and Sanjay are "friends for life. That equation will never change. We're constantly in touch over the phone, since we don't get to meet each other due to our work schedules." Bhansali remained unavailable for comment despite repeated attempts to reach him for this story.
Calling Black and Sanjay "special" in her life, she adds, "That film took me to a level that would have otherwise taken me years to reach." Whatever the title, Dil Bole Hadippa, her Yashraj film with Shahid Kapoor evidently didn't do much for her career.
