Rani Mukerji On Norwegian Ambassador's Claims About Mrs Chatterjee Vs Norway: 'Everybody Is Touchy About Their Country'

Actor Rani Mukerji, who is basking in the success of her film 'Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway', reacted to the Norwegian Ambassador to India, Hans Jacob Frydenlund’s statements regarding the film.

New Delhi: Actor Rani Mukerji, who is basking in the success of her film 'Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway', reacted to the Norwegian Ambassador to India, Hans Jacob Frydenlund’s statements regarding the film. He had claimed that the film is a ‘fictional representation’ of a true case, with factual inaccuracies.   

Reacting to the allegations, the actor said the intent was not to villainise any particular country. 

Speaking with Hindustan Times, the actor said, “Everybody is entitled to have their own opinion. This film was not really made to offend anybody. It is a true story, and the intention of the film was very different from what was being projected in the opinion that was given. It was about a mother’s journey. The film clearly shows how it’s never the main people who are doing it, but people who are taking advantage of a system. But everybody is touchy about their own country and will try to defend.” 

She also said that it not a fictional story. “For somebody like me, who’s s an Indian citizen, what would I understand with my Indian government being involved with this? It can’t be a fictional story because my government helped getting the children united with the mother. So, by one person saying something, it’s not really going to affect the larger picture of the film that we wanted to make and the story that we wanted to put out,” she was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times. 

Directed by Ashima Chibber, the film is based on the case of Sagarika Bhattacharya, whose children were taken away by Norwegian welfare services in 2011. The film recounts the story of an immigrant Indian mother’s battle against the Norwegian foster care system and local legal machinery to regain her children's custody.   

While hitting out at the movie, the ambassador said, in an op-ed in The Indian Express, "the film, unfortunately, portrays factual inaccuracies" and "a fictional representation of the case." 

While defending child welfare in Norway, the ambassador said that the fundamental principle of child welfare in Norway is to protect the child's best interests.