30 years of cinema: Rani Mukerji pens heartfelt note

Having completed three decades in the film industry, actor Rani Mukerji reflected on her journey with gratitude, humility and deep emotion, as she penned a heartfelt note celebrating 30 years in cinema.
Looking back on her debut and the films that shaped her evolution as an artist, Rani shared a deeply personal reflection on her love for the craft, her growth, and her self-discovery.
“Thirty years… When I say that out loud, it feels unreal, but it also tells me that if you do something that you love from the bottom of your heart, time flies and you are left hungry for more. Thirty years ago, I stepped onto a film set with no grand plan of becoming an actress. It wasn’t a dream I chased it was something that found me. A young girl. drawn into cinema almost by chance, hesitant at first… and yet, somewhere between instinct and vulnerability. I fell in love with the craft,” she said.
Revisiting her debut film Raja Ki Aayegi Baaraat, the actor recalled the lessons it taught her early on. “When I did Raja Ki Aayegi Baaraat, I was barely aware of what a ‘career’ in cinema would look like. I only knew that acting made me feel alive. That film taught me my first big lesson: cinema is not about glamour, first it is about responsibility. Playing a woman fighting for dignity so early in my journey shaped the actor I would become,” she said.
Rani described the 1990s as a “magical phase” of her career, noting that while her films opened doors, they also revealed to her how deeply Hindi cinema connects with audiences.
From the first step to the films that went on to shape her career, Rani Mukerji credited every bit of them in her journey, offering special mentions to ‘Saathiya’, Bunty Aur Babli’, ‘Hum Tum’, and ‘No One Killed Jessica’, among others.-TIN Bureau