Rani Mukherji has said she was really affected by the true story of a mother’s fight against a country to get custody of her kid as depicted in her upcoming film Mrs. Chatterjee Vs Norway.

Talking at a recent event moderated by Karan Johar and attended by the movie’s producer Nikkhil Advani, the actress revealed how she got the offer for Mrs. Chatterjee Vs Norway. “Nikkhil called me and said straightforwardly, ‘Rani, I have a script and I think there’s nobody else who could do it but you.’ I asked him what the story was about. He told me that a country confiscated both children of a woman,” Rani said.

“I thought he was joking and asked him what the charges were. When he told me about the charges, those were the things that we have grown up with culturally, such as feeding kids with hands, parents and kids sleeping next to each other, and putting a ‘kaala teeka’ on a child’s face. I was shocked to hear this and asked Nikkhil for a script,” she added.

Mrs. Chatterjee Vs Norway, produced by Nikkhil’s Emmay Entertainment along with Zee Studios, is based on true events that involved Sagarika Bhattacharya fighting a legal battle with Norway for taking away her children from her. The film will arrive in cinemas on March 17.

After receiving Nikkhil’s offer, the Mardaani actress, who hasn’t worked outside her husband Aditya Chopra’s Yash Raj Films (YRF) for almost a decade now, tried to test the producer’s keenness to sign her for the film.

“I told Nikkhil that my daughter was my priority and I could give him fewer hours for the shoot than what actors are typically expected to. I told him that he won’t be able to deal with my tantrums. But Nikkhil agreed to all my conditions and didn’t give me any chance to say ‘no’ to the film,” she explained.

Later, Rani got to know that Ashima Chhibber was going to direct the film. Ashima made her directorial debut with YRF’s Mere Dad Ki Maruti (2013). “I have seen Ashima at YRF for so many years since her first film Mere Dad Ki Maruti. I had met her a few times; she is always very warm and a bright girl. When I spoke to Ashima, I realised that she was very passionate about the story because she had spoken to Sagarika (Bhattacharya) and she was very involved with the subject. That love translates into the film.”

At the event, Rani also recalled how she had first come across Nikkhil almost 25 years ago on the sets of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. “Nikkhil was there from the first time I met Karan for Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. So, working with Emmay Entertainment was an extension of working with Yash Raj Films and Dharma Productions.”