She has lost weight, slipped into a bikini top and is playing a man. Dil Bole Hadippa appears to be Rani Mukerji’s last gamble. But will she pull it off?
It’s become a trend of sorts. In the last few years since she decided to turn all elusive on the media, every Rani Mukerji interview starts with us seeking a clarification on a list of recent tabloid tales. Usually the stories are about her getting engaged. Or married. Or both. To her alleged boyfriend, the powerful Mr Aditya Chopra.

This time too, the secret shaadi rumours abound. But there’s something new. According to the gossip mills, she is supposed to have run away from her new bungalow to her old flat because she considers it unlucky. As of now, she is living it up quite happily in her palatial beach-facing Juhu home, KrishnaRam (named after her parents).
She greets us, all barefoot and smiles, with her cute niece, Myeisha (brother Raja’s daughter), in her arms. She’s lost oodles of weight, as you all know, courtesy the ‘bikini top’ shot from the music video of her forthcoming Dil Bole Hadippa, currently on loop on all music channels. She’s suddenly ‘smokin’ hot’, something she’s much kicked about. “Can you believe it? Suddenly they are using words like hot, sexy and smokin’ hot for me! I slogged hard to lose weight and I’m very happy with the reaction,” she says.

The skin show wasn’t intended. She put herself on a killer workout schedule to pass off as an athletic Sardar boy in love with cricket. “But in the bargain, my body toned up well and when I got an opportunity to show it off in the music video, I said, why not,” she says with a laugh.
This is Rani Mukerji, Version 2.0. Back on the scene after a string of no-shows like Baabul, Ta Ra Rum Pum, Laaga Chunari Mein Daag, Saawariya and last year’s lacklustre Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic, the erstwhile Queen Bee seems to be staking her claim back to her kingdom.

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