Rani Mukerji addresses the Prince Charles Foundation Fundraiser Dinner

Rani Mukerji addresses the Prince Charles Foundation Fundraiser Dinner as the Guest of Honour

Rani Mukerji made a short speech at the British Asian Trust Fundraiser Dinner where she was invited to be the Guest of Honour. Rani, who has impressed everyone with her stellar performance in her latest film Mardaani that addressed the issue of child trafficking and created awareness on the subject in India, took the stage along with Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi to speak on the issue which is very close to her heart. 

Rani's speech: "Your Royal Highness the Duchess of Cornwall my lords ladies and gentlemen. It is a great privilege and honour for me to be invited here this evening. We are gathered here today because of concern for human trafficking. A horrific practice which sadly is happening around us all too often. Recently I have played a police officer in a film called Mardaani. The film focussed on child trafficking. While preparing for my role I researched and discovered how pervasive and pernicious this practice is.

I would like to share with you all certain statistics given by the crime branch bureau India and the National Human Rights Commission India. Every 8 mins a girl goes missing in India. Nearly 40000 children are abducted every year out of which 11000 remain untraced. 2.2 million Children are sold every year globally.

I am pleased to hear that in England the modern day slavery bill will soon be law. The new act will close many lacunae in the law and provide more rights for victims of exploitation. Nevertheless while consolidation of the law is to be applauded it is part of a much larger picture. We should not be complacent and each one of us should be more vigilant and take personal responsibility to stop this crime.

I stand here before you today committed to the eradication of human trafficking. My film Mardaani was my first step in this direction. I know that this journey is going to be a long and arduous one but feel hopeful that together with people like you and many others in my country and around the world we shall make a difference."

Noble Laureate Kailash Satyarthi, complimented Rani on her performance in the film and congratulated the makers who had the courage to back projects like this. He was delighted to meet her and share his thoughts on the film and on the subject of trafficking. "In my view, Mardaani is the first Indian film that tries to understand and effectively highlight the heinous issue of girl child trafficking. I compliment the filmmakers especially Rani Mukerji for a very convincing portrayal of her character as a police officer fighting this malice. We, at Bachpan Bachao Andolan had declared a holiday and taken the entire team to watch the film and everyone was extremely inspired by her act." He added that his entire team of workers had taken a day off for the first time together to watch the film and felt extremely motivated and identified with Shivani's character and felt she was one of them fighting tirelessly towards saving the victims. Rani was also very happy and honoured to meet Kailash and has pledged to give her full support to help eradicate this evil. She was extremely delighted to know from him what impact the film had on him and his fellow workers.

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