Actress Rani Mukerji is overwhelmed with the response she has got for her comeback film “Hichki” and says that the kind of love audiences have showered on the movie proves that good cinema and performance is the only thing that matters and not marital status or parenthood.

“Hichki” marks Rani’s comeback to acting after a gap of four years. The film raked in Rs 3.30 crore on day one, a statement said.

Ecstatic over the response, Rani said: “All my life, I have tried to entertain, tried to spread love and happiness to my fans and audiences through my films. Their happiness made me happy, motivated me. Yesterday, I felt the same emotions that I had faced when my first film released.

“I was nervous. I was jittery. My first love is acting. Nothing gives me as much joy than being on the set of my film. I chose marriage when I wanted to.”

The actress, who has a daughter Adira, 2, says she chose motherhood and “I chose to prioritise these for four years before I again chose to return to my passion wanting to feel the rush of challenging myself with a truly remarkable role.”

On the first day of the film’s release, Rani felt like it was a “do or die test”.

“I did draw courage from the success stories of the outstanding artists who decided to settle down and then returned with great comebacks but deep down I was nervous that if I fail, I would be forever succumbing to the archaic stereotypes to the same hichkis that have been prevalent for so many years” she said.

“With the incredible love that audiences have showered on ‘Hichki’ and on me, they have proven that for them good cinema and good performance is the only thing that matters – not marital status, not parenthood,” added an emotional Rani.

The actress, 40, says that the audiences have celebrated working mothers and that she will be forever thankful to them.

In “Hichki”, Rani plays the character of Naina Mathur who suffers from Tourette syndrome that forces an individual to make involuntary repetitive movements or sounds.

The Siddharth P. Malhotra directorial focuses on turning disadvantages into opportunities and staring down at challenges that life throws at one and ultimately winning over them.

“This box office validation gives me incredible confidence to continue my journey as a working mother who can aim to balance her professional and personal life to a T,” Rani concluded.