Rani was supposed to play Jwala in 'The Rising' 15th Aug 2005
21.16 IST
By Aparajita Ghosh
Rani Mukherjee was the original choice to play the young widow Jwala in ‘Mangal Pandey The Rising ’. However, she eventually ended up playing the tawaif Heera in the film.
In an agency interview, Rani has revealed that her role in ‘The Rising’ started as a mere cameo of the young widow Jwala who is saved from being a sati at the funeral pyre of her husband by a British officer.
However, Rani says that when she read the movie’s script, she “fell in love with the small role of the prostitute Heera.”
The script was subsequently modified to create a bigger role for Heera in the film and a mujra song Tumhari Adaon Pe Main Vari Vari was included.
Meanwhile, Aishwarya Rai was approached to play the role of Jwala. But the beauty queen opted out of the project and the role eventually went to Amisha Patel , who has delivered a fine performance in the film.
Rani says she did ‘The Rising’ for two reasons. Firstly, she wanted to work with filmmaker Ketan Mehta . Secondly, she can’t say no to Aamir Khan , who plays Mangal Pandey in the film.