She’s the royal Bengal tigress. Don’t believe it…check some of Rani’s blow hot, blow cold quotes from her best interviews over the years…

On Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Black’ magic…
“What intrigued me most about Sanjay was that here’s a director who is known for his opulence, stylish sets and extravagant musicals, and now the same man is willing to take a big risk and make a film on a blind, deaf and dumb girl. A songless film in shades of grey and black. That contrasting feeling pushed me to do this film. He could have taken the biggest stars and made another musical with a multi-star cast - which is his forte - but instead, he made ‘Black’.�

On her ‘Queenly’ status in tinselville, the best banners, blockbusters and the Big B to share screen-space with …
“I’ve grown up on Amit uncle’s films, and he’s still the only superstar for me. When I did ‘Hey Ram’, I got a letter from Mr. Bachchan saying that he liked my work. It was one of the most special days of my life. After that, I did a guest appearance in ‘K3G‘, and that really made it. Since then I’ve shared a good relationship with the Bachchans - Jaya aunty, Abhishek and Amit uncle. And with Jaya aunty being a Bengali, we two have a different kind of bonding altogether.�

On interacting with the world of the deaf, dumb and blind…
“I interacted with the deaf, dumb and blind children and I realised how ‘small’ we all were in our own worlds. Those who’ve seen nothing but darkness have survived in ‘our’ world. They are the real heroes. And one thing I know for sure - that ‘they’ possess powers that you and I can’t have in an entire lifetime. Being with them has changed by my life forever.�

On being peeved about her role in ‘Veer Zaara’ being called a ‘cameo’…
“Don’t call my role in ‘Veer Zaara’ a cameo! The problem with the media is that they’ve formed a habit of labelling stars, roles and movies and whatever else to suit their needs. If you’ve seen the film, my billing comes after Shah Rukh Khan’s, not in the ‘special appearance’ category. It’s a full-fledged role; in fact, it’s like being the ‘hero’ of the film - second to SRK, of course!�

On being the target on Abhishek pranks on the sets …
“To tell you the truth, Abhishek ends up playing pranks on himself. He is a real baby who does mischievous things, gets scolded by all and then sits with a long face for sometime. That’s why I call him ‘Aby-baby’; he still has to jump from the 18-yr-old mark, and he’s just not growing up. But seriously, he has really grown as an actor. And the two of us have no inhibitions working together. It shows on-screen.�

On her so-called dosti with Preity Zinta…
�To put it correctly, Preity and I have had a good working relationship, but we were never great friends. As co-actors we vibed well, so the media assumed that we were thick pals.�