Actress Rani Mukerji, who attended the trailer launch of her upcoming film Hichki on Tuesday, says that “speech impairment” is not a subject but a reality that most people live with in real life.
When asked if talking about the issue with the movie will help bring awareness, she said: “First of all, I would like to say this isn’t a subject but a part of many lives.”
“The people who suffer from the syndrome are challenged in every part of their lives. During research for the role, I met many kids who suffered from it and their parents, they haven’t been able to come out properly in India.
“If you look at America, where there are stand up comedians, who step forward and took their ‘turrets’ in their act, in their comic format. So now when we start talking about it in India, I am sure lot more people will come forward and talk about their experience,” added Rani.
Mukerji also informed that her performance in the movie also comes from a very personal space as she used to stammer when she was a child.
“I used to stammer when I was a kid and my mom was also facing the same thing. My elder brother still does. I have overcome the issue a lot because as an actress I have to say many dialogues, express many emotions and stammering usually takes place and is highly noticeable when you are emotionally affected,” she said.
“I had to control it a lot and work a lot on it but the good thing is, if you can overcome it you can make your weakness your strength,” added Mukerji.
Mukerji also spoke about her daughter Adira at the launch and said that it is a conscious decision to keep her out of the limelight, as she and her husband Aditya Chopra want her to lead a normal life.
“It is a decision taken together by my husband and me. I think my husband being a very private person wants Adira to have a very normal upbringing,” said Mukerji.
“Also, seeing the circumstances around us, there always will be a sense of intrigue as to what is our child doing? How is she doing? So there would be kind of extra attention that they don’t probably deserve,” she added.
Mukerji and Chopra, who dated for a long time, got married in April 2014 in Italy.
Mukerji also said she has no issues romancing younger male actors on screen.
“I will be very comfortable romancing younger actors on screen. I have romanced many actors on screen. As an actor, I am here to follow the instruction of film directors,” said Mukerji.
Asked whether Chopra will be comfortable with the situation, Mukerji replied: “Why not? He is married to an actress. He has to be comfortable with it. He was not blind-folded when he married me, so yes why would there be a problem?”
Mukerji was earlier paired with younger actors like Shahid Kapoor and Prithviraj in films such as Dil Bole Hadippa! and Aiyaa.
Hichki traces the journey of a teacher who suffers from Turrets syndrome. Students make fun of the side-effects of her disease and schools do not agree to hire her.
Finally, she gets admitted to one of the schools but has to deal with a set of students whom no one wants to teach.
Hichki is directed by Siddharth P Malhotra and produced by Maneesh Sharma under the banner of Yash Raj Films.
The film is expected to release on February 23, 2018, in India.
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