From boardrooms to ballrooms -- Indrani Mukerjea is back, unbothered, unstoppable, and gloriously, unapologetically herself.
Video: Rajesh Karkera/Rediff, Hitesh Harisinghani/Rediff
Indrani Mukerjea is done apologising. The once-villified media baron is back -- and this time, on her own terms.
Since 2022, Indrani has been quietly but deliberately rebuilding, and the results are hard to ignore.
Her memoir Unbroken, published by HarperCollins, became a bestseller and won an award for Best Debut Non-Fiction.
IMAGE: Indrani Mukerjea Photographs: Hitesh Harisinghani/Rediff
A second book is already in the pipeline, sometime this year. She launched her own production company, Indrani Mukerjea Enterprises, took up ballroom dancing under well-known trainer Sandeep Soparkar, and produced and starred in Chitrangada -- receiving standing ovations at every single show.
What drove her through it all? Detachment, she says -- almost serenely. "Solitude taught me something success and companionship never did," she tells Prasanna D Zore on The Rediff Podcast. "I found peace within myself that I'd never felt before."
On love and loyalty, she's refreshingly direct. She's been married twice, had relationships before that, and insists she has never -- emotionally or physically -- betrayed a partner. She draws a sharp line: Physical infidelity can be a mistake; emotional infidelity is a deliberate choice. The latter, she says, is unforgivable.
On society's double standards? Furious, but composed.
"If a man dates someone 17 years younger, he's a legend. Let a woman do it -- the internet explodes." She cites Malaika Arora and Jennifer Lopez as fellow targets of that exhausting hypocrisy.
Marrying again? Absolutely not. In love again? Never say never.
At 53, Indrani Mukerjea isn't making a comeback. But 14 years after her life changed forever, she's making an entirely new story -- and the audience is already on its feet, whistling.
Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff