Ta Ra Rum Pum talks about a positive spirit during tough times. The story is about how a family copes with the ups and downs of life and how it comes out of an obstacle with only a ray of hope. Lead actor Rani Mukherji shares her experiences of working in the film in a free wheeling conversation….
Tell us something about your role in Ta Ra Rum Pum.
My role is that of a girl who is the strength of the family because she’s the mother and the wife who holds the entire family together.
What was it like playing a Bengali woman on screen?
It’s always lovely to play a Bengali, because you get to say a couple of words in Bangla. It was also different because my character’s a Bengali who’s born and brought up in New York, and her name in the film is Radhika Shekar Rai Banerjee which is kind of a tongue twister! She’s a typical Bengali woman who’s absolutely strong and who can go through tough times with a lot of courage and a smiling face.
You are playing a mother of two kids in the film…
It just made me feel that seven years down the line, probably I would be like that! Or probably, if I had married early and had kids early, by now I would have had two kids!
The interesting part of the film was that we worked with the kids and they were so talented that we all had to be on our toes! The girl and the boy used to know their lines perfectly well and they were fully in tune with the film. There were many times when the children had to be up till three in the morning but they were there and doing their job so well.
How was it working with Saif again?
Saif has come a long way since Hum Tum and it’s always nice to work with him because he’s one of my co-stars who I really get along with very well in terms of a working relationship. He’s a fantastic actor so it just makes it even nicer for me to work with him because acting is all about reacting and when you have such a good actor in front of you, one can always give their best.
What was it working with Siddharth Anand?
I know Sid from school so it’s very difficult for me to accept that he is my director, but now that I have already done one film with him, I can say yes, he’s my director. It’s been specially great working with him because Siddharth knows what he wants while he is working.
You have worked with designers Sabyasachi and Manish Malhotra in the past, how was it working with Surily Goel?
Surily is very hard working and is always trying to put in her best. In this film, we required the costumes to be more real than fashion co-ordinated or fashion oriented, but even then, I think Surily has put in her best.
You have worked with several production houses? What is it like working with Yash Raj Films?
For me, Yash Raj films is not merely a production house, it is more family to me and I feel at home here because the kind of faith and trust they have had in my work and in me as an actor has really given me a lot of encouragement. I think Yash Raj is really special and if I had my way, I would do all my films with Yash Raj because the kind of roles they offer me and the way they think about a film and how a particular actor suits a particular film, is really good.
Do you enjoy watching car racing?
I would not say that I love watching car racing because that’s more of a guy thing but yes, when I went for the shooting of Ta Ra Rum Pum, I was really excited being at the race track, because I had not been to one till then, and the sound of the cars and the engine just gets you so excited.
