Rani Mukerji Recalls Being Upset Over Dubbed Voice In Ghulam
22 Jan 2026 6:06 PM IST22 Jan 2026 6:06 PM IST
Rani Mukerji recalls Karan Johar's insistence on her dubbing her own voice for 'Kuch Kuch Hota Hai', contrasting it with her experience in 'Ghulam', emphasizing the significance of voice in her performances.
Rani Mukherjee in the frame (Image/Instagram)
Mumbai: Actor Rani Mukerji on Thursday said it was upsetting when the makers of her 1998 film "Ghulam" decided to get her character's voice dubbed by another actor and thanked filmmaker Karan Johar for letting her retain it in "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai."
The National Award-winning actor sat down for a fireside chat with Johar here to discuss her three decades in cinema. She is also gearing up for her new movie "Mardaani 3", which is set to be released in theatres on January 30.
Rani recalled that during the shoot of "Ghulam", it was co-star Aamir Khan who told her that her voice would be dubbed by another artist.
"I think as a newcomer you don't have much of a choice because it was a really big thing for me to be able to do a film opposite Aamir because he was one of the superstars then.
"I learned later from Vikram (Bhatt) who's my director that actually it was a decision taken by probably Vikram, Mukesh ji and Aamir. But they made Aamir become the bad cop to speak to me. And Aamir kind of explained to me that we have to sacrifice certain things for the best of the film. And probably your voice is not apt for the character or the role," Rani said.
She said Aamir asked about her favourite actress and she instantly replied that it was Sridevi.
"He (Aamir) gave an example of how Sridevi's voice was dubbed in a lot of her films. But it didn't stop her from being the star that she became. So with that logic, he said, 'Rani, you must surrender to whatever is best for the film and we think that your voice should be dubbed.'
"And it was a little upsetting for me. But obviously I couldn't show the fact that I was upset because you need to be a team player whenever you're part of a film.
And I think as actors and technicians, we need to be part of a team. Even if there are personal disappointments, it doesn't matter as long as the intent is true for the film. And they went ahead and they dubbed my voice."
The actor then became emotional as she recounted the story of how Johar made the decision to retain her voice in "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai", which came out the same year. In Johar's directorial, Rani appeared alongside Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol while Salman Khan made a special appearance.
"I really owe this to Karan, we were shooting for the trailer of 'Kuch Kuch Hota Hai'. You came up to me and you said, 'Rani, are people dubbing your voice in 'Ghulam'? And I said, 'yeah'. So he said, 'Do you have a problem with dubbing?' And I said, 'No, I don't have a problem with dubbing.' He said, 'did you dub your first film?' I said, 'Of course, I dubbed my first film'.
"So he said, 'I love your voice', and I still remember it clearly. You said, 'I love your voice and you will dub for my film.' And thanks to you, Karan, that I was able to retain my voice," Rani said.
Daughter of late filmmaker Ram Mukherjee and playback singer Krishna Mukherjee, Rani made her acting debut with the 1996 movie "Raja Ki Aayegi Baaraat".
She went on to star in a wide range of films across genres, earning acclaim for performances in "Saathiya", "Black", "Bunty Aur Babli", "Hum Tum", "No One Killed Jessica", "Mardaani" and "Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway", establishing herself as an actor known for both mainstream hits and female-led roles.
Rani said even though she came from a film family, her parents never thought she'd become a huge actor.
"I don't even think they had dreams because at the time that we were growing up, I think it was never really something that occurred to my dad that I'm going to go ahead in life and work and do stuff like that.
"I think it was more always a boy's responsibility. I think that responsibility, they saw through my brother."
She revealed that her parents wanted her to get "married at a very young age".
"But I think destiny had other plans for me with the offer that came for 'Raja Ki Aayegi Bharat.' I think my mom just told me that, 'You know Salim (Akhtar, director) uncle who is a family friend, he has offered you the film. Why don't you take it up and see how it goes?'
"I never realised that my mom was probably finding a way to make the financial situation in the house better because they knew that if I do well in this field maybe things would get better. But probably at that point of time I didn't see it from that angle."
Johar said it was Rani's now husband, producer Aditya Chopra, who recommended her name to him for the role in "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai", which was rejected by eight leading ladies at the time.
"I had become like the most rejected first time filmmaker because nobody wanted to do that part of Tina. I was trying very hard to convince them that it's pivotal to the film. All those eight girls and I remember each one of their names and I thanked them that they said no to me.
"One evening it was none other than Aditya Chopra who called me. He said, 'Have you seen this new girl in this trailer of this film called 'Raja Ki ayegi Baarat'? It's this song. She comes out and she does a gesture. This girl is a big star.'
"I went and had a look and I said, 'She's a very pretty girl. And I went and met her. And, of course, the rest is history," Johar said.
Rani said she did not know about the kindness shown to her by Aditya Chopra, Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir and Johar at the time.
"You all probably saw this at the same time and you all thought that I was okay enough to be part of your films," she said. PTI SS
( Source : PTI )
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