Varanasi Musings by Rani Mukherji

Rani Mukherjee remains uncharacteristically aloof in Varanasi. That's the buzz from the Holy city where she has been shooting for Pradeep Sarkar's film for the last month.

"Rani has her entire family of mother, father, brother and bhabhi with her in Varanasi . All the time off camera is spent with them. In the evening when she packs up she prefers to be with her family rather than the unit members. After all the rumours and speculation, not to mention the recent run-in with the local press in Varanasi, Rani has become wary of outside company. She's becoming increasingly family-oriented," says a source from location.

Is Pradeep Sarkar's much-discussed Jaya-Rani-Konkona-Abhishek-Kunal Kapoor starrer actually called Choodiyan?

"No!" protests Rani Mukherjee from the city of protests Varanasi. "I don't know where that started from. Earlier some Hindi newspapers mentioned it was anaam, meaning untitled. The newspapers started calling it Anaam. Now they've very helpfully named our film Choodiyan. That probably started when some people saw Konkona and me dancing to a song wearing lots of bangles."

As of now the film has no title. What it does have is a unit working on tenterhooks in Varanasi. Almost everyone has a stomach infection, and it has nothing to do with the unit's food or the water. Even those who are eating from their own dabba and drinking mineral water are suffering from a tummy bug!

Luckily for them the month-long Varanasi stint is about to end. The unit returns to Mumbai where Abhishek Bachchan will now make himself a part of the plot. Though it's largely believed that Abhishek has a supporting role in this ladies picture, the truth is to the contrary.

"Abhishek has a full-length role opposite Rani. He plays a leading catalyst. His role is of a very noble and heroic character, even more so than the one he played in KANK," says a source.

Source