Rani Mukerji, who debuts on the small screen as the judge of Sony TV's new reality show "Dance Premier League", impressed the whole unit with her punctuality and professionalism.

"She was there dot on time, ready with make-up on before some of the other celebrities had even arrived in the studio. Once on the sets, she proved her total professionalism," said a source from the show.

"More than that, she has proved that she is a perfectionist. Even before the director could decide he needed another take, she called for it herself and redid the takes until she was satisfied with the result. It definitely pays to work with Aamir Khan at the beginning of one's career. After all, a leaf from his book will only hold good," added the source.

Rani Mukerji was the last name announced by Sony TV to be the judge in the ongoing dance reality show, “Dance Premier League” (DPL).

Was it Aditya Chopra’s reference that got her the show?

Sony TV and Yash Raj Films (YRF) share a very good business relationship.

It seems that just two days before Sony made the announcement about Rani being part of the show, the channel signed an agreement with YRF for producing exclusive fiction and non-fiction content for the channel. So now, Aditya Chopra and his talented team at YRF will be working as producers to create exclusive content for Sony TV.

Incidentally the timing of both the agreements was quite interesting. YRF’s deal with Sony and Rani being part of DPL happened almost simultaneously.

We wonder whether Rani came as a packaged deal for Sony as part of the agreement with YRF?

Meanwhile, while shooting for the second episode of DPL, Rani communicated with one of the participants using sign language that she had learnt five years ago for her movie “Black”, in which she played a deaf and mute character.

One of the contestants on the show, Vishal, who was considered one of the best, was unfortunately deaf. After his performance, when it was the judges’ turn to comment, all of them spoke but Vishal could not understand a word.

That’s when Rani conversed with him in sign language and even congratulated him for being different. While everyone danced on the sound, Vishal had danced guided by his instincts and that’s what impressed Rani.

After a string of big ticket celebrities who have taken to reality shows on the small screen, it's now actress Rani Mukerji's turn. She is set to judge Sony TV's "Rin Dance Premier League" (DPL) along with actor Arshad Warsi and dance guru Shiamak Davar.

According to the channel, Rani will add to the scale, glamour and credibility of the show that premiered on Friday (Oct 9). She will be called "Queen of DPL" on the show and will decide the fortunes of the competing teams.

While Shiamak Davar will be evaluating performances and setting the difficulty level as the competition progresses as an 'umpire' on the show, Arshad will be a ‘guest judge' for the auditions.

The show will have teams from different zones from across the country as well as abroad competing with each other. It is expected to highlight India's rich and diverse culture as each regional team will bring its own unique flavour to the performances.

Every zone will comprise of eight dancers and will be guided by their coach. Choreographers like Pappu Malu, Nagendra Prasad, Uma-Gaiti, Harshall-Vitthal, Mini Johny and Howard Rosemeyer will be donning the role of mentors.

Popular TV celebrities Eijaz Khan and Sara Khan will host the weekend show.

Produced by Cineyug, the show has already been backed by actors like Salman Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Sohail Khan, Bipasha Basu and other celebrities like Kapil Dev, Anil Kumble, Sanjay Banger, Baichung Bhutia and rapper Hard Kaur.

On her new look and toned body

When you tone your body, you feel confident about flaunting your body and wearing certain clothes. It’s not that I haven’t shown off my midriff or my legs before but I worked on acquiring an athletic body and wanted to show it off.

My character Veera has very limited scope to come in different avatars and even Veer is covered from top to bottom. It was the team’s idea to flaunt my body in the music video because I had worked so hard on it. The movie didn’t give me the scope to show off how hard I worked. The music video where we have taken some liberties, gave me the opportunity to show off. It wasn’t on the agenda initially; I just went with the flow during the making of Hadippa. Working out for an athletic body, putting on a beard and playing cricket well were equally difficult but you need to go through the grind if you want to reap the benefits.

Being an Indian actress you have to be glamourous also and people have got a chance to see a new side of me.

On the response to her new look

People have been extremely kind. I have got wonderful and wondrous compliments from a lot of people I have met and even on the internet. I worked very hard so it feels good.

On her expectations from the film and being a regular feature in YRF productions

I only want my audience to like my work. If they enjoy my work in the film, I have won my battle.

This film is for my fans who like to see me doing comedy and being happy. It’s a big compliment to be called a resident Yash Raj heroine but I want to do roles that are worth my while. YRF has offered me great roles that allow me to push my boundaries as an actress.