Rani Mukerji might be in a relationship with Yash Raj scion Aditya Chopra, but that hasn’t deterred Rajkumar Gupta, director of No One Killed Jessica, from asking her hand in marriage. The filmmaker, who reportedly couldn’t take his eyes of the actress during the shooting of the film, is believed to be smitten by the bong beauty.

Confirming the news, a source told a daily, "It was quite obvious for everyone to see that Raj was smitten by Rani. He found every excuse to be close to her and even insisted on playing a cameo in the film where he gets to propose to Rani`s character."

As per reports, a scene in the script demanded one of Rani`s character`s colleagues in the office to shout a marriage proposal to Rani. And even though some other actor was supposed to do that role, Raj insisted on playing it just for the pleasure of proposing to Rani.

Talking about the incident, "Yes that`s me shouting, `Marry me` to Rani. Someone else was supposed to do the cameo. But no one had the guts to say those two words to Rani. So I took up the challenge. Actually there were two cameos making audacious proposals to Rani. My producer Vikas Behl also plays a cameo. He shouts, `Try me` to Rani. I shout, `Marry me.`"

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Director: Raj Kumar Gupta; Actors: Vidya Balan, Rani Mukerji; Rating: *** 1/2

On April 29, 1999 a shot was fired from a .22 bore pistol whose loud reverberations lasted over a decade. The shot that killed a vivacious, aspiring model Jessica Lall was fired in the presence of more than 100 ’socialites’ present at a party in New Delhi. Yet, accused Manu Sharma walked free in 2006 prompting a newspaper headline that read "No One Killed Jessica".

In the ensuing decade, Venod Sharma, father of the accused and a high profile congress leader, paid millions of rupees to silence witnesses. It was not until the Tehelka Magazine did a sting investigation and Star News aired the footage that justice was finally served.

"No One Killed Jessica" faithfully follows the case to emerge a winner.

Almost everyone knows the story. Yet, the film makes some interesting departures to keep the momentum going. A Barkha Dutt type character has been introduced in Rani Mukerji though the former did not have much to do with the case or its reinstatement. However, Rani lacks the intensity to pull off such a strong role and the strain shows.

On the other hand, Vidya Balan soars with the unglamorous, distraught and hunchbacked portrayal of Jessica’s sister.

Director Raj Kumar Gupta makes direct comment on the society we live in, its voyeuristic tendencies and the judiciary’s disregard for justice. Everyone knows the extent of corruption and rot in the system as symptomised by the acquittal of Manu Sharma, but the question as always is who would bell the cat if the police and judiciary do not.

In this case Tehelka, who did the sting investigation and Star News (and not NDTV that walks away with the praises in the film) that aired the footages did manage to right a wrong. But the question is not just of Jessica Lall, but the thousands like her whose cases have not had the light of justice shine upon them.

The Jessica Lall murder thus became an emblem of the rot in the democracy, police and judiciary.

The truth is, the culprits were not just Manu Sharma, his friends and his family, but Shayan Munshi who redacted his statements leading to Manu’s acquittal and Bina Ramani, both of whom continue to have successful careers, one as an actor-model and the latter as a heedless socialite. The culprit is all of us who stay silent to the injustice all around us.

The injustice done in Jessica’s case has been corrected, but the question remains of the millions of other cases of injustice in the country.

Gupta’s film on a true incident bodes well for Bollywood, which is normally not too keen on reality, and the concept of justice itself. Yet, the question is not who killed Jessica Lall, but as the gross miscarriage of injustice in Kashmir, central and northeast India and the thousands of pending cases in the country show -- it is: who killed justice in India?

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Rani Mukerji threw a fit last week at the Big Star Entertainment Awards in Mumbai because her designer gave her ill-fitting clothes.Says a source, "Rani wore a ghaghra-choli at the recently held awards, which will be telecast tomorrow on Star Plus.

She performed to various B-Town hits right from her first song Koi Mil Gaya (Kuch Kuch Hota Hai) to the title track of Dil Bole Hadippa. Her last song was Dilli from No One Killed Jessica. However, Rani kept exiting the stage for a few moments and even moved backstage during her final track."

The source reveals, "The actress’ skirt (ghaghra) was very loose and she had to return backstage for check on it. She kept her cool through out her performance.Not once did she show during her entire act that the loose skirt was slipping off her waist and would quietly go offstage to adjust it.

But all hell broke loose when her act got over and the actress entered the media room for giving channel bytes. Her designer came running to her to ask her about the performance."Apparently, she gave the girl a firing. "Rani shouted at her designer so much that she was almost in tears. She told her ’kitni beizzati hui mujhe stage pe aaj, tumhare skirt ke wajah se! Kya ill-fitting skirt diya!’.

The trouble is, most of RM’s outfits for stage shows are done by Neeta Lulla and Sabyasachi Chakroborty but this time because of lack of time, Rani brought a new girl to do her outfits for the awards."Rani remained unavailable for comment.Priyanka Chopra and Rani Mukerji apparently refused to perform on the choreography that was done for them by their respective choreographers at the Big Star Entertainment Awards.

The ladies immediately put their own choreographers on the job. They added individual touches to make it more interesting. A source adds, "Rani and Priyanka wanted their acts to stand out and not look similar and that’s why they chose to choreograph their dances with their own choreographers. It was as if Rani and Priyanka were competing with each other!""

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Rani Mukerji says she wants to be seen more often on the big screen but describes actors as beggars waiting for good scripts to come their way, which is the reason for her long absence.

"Actors are beggars! They wait for good scripts to come their way. It’s always the makers who decide to make a film and then it’s on the actors to choose what they want to do on the basis of what is being offered to them," Rani, who will feature in a never-before-seen avatar in "No One Killed Jessica", told IANS in an interview.

"Honestly, the kind of roles that are being offered to me, I have to think hard before taking them. I have a responsibility towards my fans and I can’t do random things. I have to do a role that catches people’s attention. If my fans love me so much, the least I can do is to come out with a good film for them; that’s why I do fewer films now," said the 32-year-old.

The dusky damsel wants to be seen more, but somehow she is not so lucky.

"I keep hoping and praying that I get scripts which are different so that I can take up those films. As an actor I want to be seen.

"The constant reaction that I keep getting is that ’Rani, we want to see more of you’, and I too want to do more films. In fact, I want to come out with two-three films every year, but I’ve not been really lucky that I could do that. I’m not getting the roles that I really want to do," she said.

Rani, who used to do a couple of films a year earlier, has squeezed it down to just one project per year now. In the last three years, Rani was seen in just two films "Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic" and "Dil Bole Hadippa", but both failed to spin any magic at the box office.

She is, however, very optimistic about 2011 when her "No One Killed Jessica" will hit the screens. Slated for a Jan 7 release, the film, based on the murder of model Jessica Lall in 1999 by Manu Sharma, son of a Haryana politician, will see her as a gutsy, fearless and bold crime reporter Meera Gaitey.

"When I was approached for this role, I was told that when the case was going on, there were a lot of reporters who pursued it actively. In a film, we obviously can’t have all of them. So my character is an amalgamation of all of them," said Rani.

"It would have been unfair to model the character on one person. So, I played it how I thought the character would be. Also I have taken bits from reporters I have met in so many years. I incorporated inputs from my observation," she added.

It was a long battle for Sabrina Lall to fight for justice for her sister and finally Manu Sharma was awarded life imprisonment by the Supreme Court. The film, which has been produced by UTV Spotboy and directed by Rajkumar Gupta, also features Vidya Balan as Sabrina Lall.

Throwing some light on her experience of working with Vidya, Rani said her co-star is very involved as an actor.

"Vidya is a method actor, which is what I have seen during the shooting of the film. She gets very involved in her character. She is a kind of actor who prepares a lot before coming on the sets. When she has to do a serious scene, I have seen her being very quiet and serious," she said.

"When she worked with me, she got a pleasant surprise because I’m fun on the sets and she didn’t expect that. The minute she used to look at me, she used to start laughing because she finds me very naughty," she added.

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Rani Mukerji will, in all probability, earn her rightful share of limelight and success with ’No One Killed Jessica’.

Besides, she’s pitted against another formidable ace: Vidya Balan. And there’s nothing like competition to get the adrenaline going…

As per insiders, Rani has sunk her teeth into her role deeeeeepppllllyyy and has proved her mettle as an actress with a portrayal that will have audiences stumped, for sure.

For a particular scene, Rani had to step in front of a car, stop it and sit on it. Word has it that RM ended up giving a dozen retakes.

Nah, before you jump to bizarre conclusions… let’s get this straight. Apparently, Ms. M wasn’t too pleased with the quality of her performance and requested director Rajkumar Gupta for retakes for "that perfect shot."

In her quest for perfection, Ms. M ended up with bruised shins and she summoned up her make up man to swiftly slather on some antiseptic cream on her bruises, even as she readied for a round of realism for future scenes…

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After playing variety of roles, Rani Mukerji will be seen in a completely different avatar in "No One Killed Jessica" - she plays a journalist who smokes cigarettes and hurls abuses.

"(Director) Rajkumar Gupta wanted me to give the impression of a strong journalist and to represent media as it is. I have seen a few female reporters smoke. I am just playing you all...so you can’t put me in trouble for this," Rani, a non-smoker, told reporters here Thursday.

The film’s first look was unveiled and Rani was seen using Hindi abuses in the trailer of the film, which deals with model Jessica Lall’s murder case. Jessica was shot dead by Manu Sharma, son of a Haryana politician, in 1999.

Rani said she didn’t have to go an extra mile to play the role in "No One Killed Jessica", which also features Vidya Balan.

"Thanks to my career, I have met a lot of reporters and anchors. So I didn’t have to meet any one specific for my characterisation in the film. Rajkumar just wanted me to use my experience with journalists to be like them in the film," she said.

Gupta says abuses were imperative to Rani’s role.

"The abuses have been used to define attitude and not in a derogatory sense. These days abuses are a part and parcel of conversational language and we didn’t feel that there was any harm in using them," said Gupta.

The cast and crew of the movie hope that the censor allows the film to pass without the beeps so that the audience gets a real taste of the movie.

The film, produced by UTV Spotboy, will release Jan 7.

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Bollywood actress Rani Mukherjee Friday lent a helping hand to her actress aunt Debasree Roy to save stray dogs in the city.

The Bollywood beauty was in town for the official launch of the website of a non-profit organisation run by Debasree.

"My aunt (Debasree Roy) used to get ridiculed for loving dogs. I do support her cause," Rani said.

"You all should support her in her endeavour," Rani told mediapersons after the launch at a city five-star hotel.

Debasree Roy Foundation is primarily dedicated to promoting the cause of birds and animals suffering from lack of care and needless suffering.

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The actress shot for her upcoming film "No One Killed Jessica" here during the winter.

"I am fond of Delhi winter, something I experienced only when I was here for the shooting of the movie last year in December. It was beautiful. I call myself a 'Mumbai girl' because it has given me everything, but Delhi in winter is just lovely," said Rani.

Dressed in a black jumpsuit, Rani was in the capital to cheer her designer friend Sabyasachi Mukherjee on the opening show of Pearls Infrastructure Projects Ltd (PIPL) Delhi Couture Week Tuesday.

Asked why she was not wearing a Sabyasachi sari, she said: "Sabya had sent me a wonderful outfit. Unfortunately, I left one of its pieces in Mumbai, so I had no other choice but to wear this jumpsuit."

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