Rani Mukerji's 40th birthday: Actress pens heartfelt letter about hardships in Bollywood

Rani Mukerji, who is gearing up for the release of her upcoming film Hichki, has just stepped into her 40s on March 21. The actress has had a very short journey as an actor and her career almost ended after she got married to filmmaker Aditya Chopra.

But she kept coming back strong with movies like No One Killed Jessica (2011), Talaash: The Answer Lies Within (2012) and Mardaani (2014), breaking the sterotypes.

After giving birth to her daughter Adira, Rani will now be seen in Siddharth P Malhotra's Hichki which is an unconventional story of an aspiring teacher Naina Mathur, who suffers from Tourette's Syndrome.

And on the occassion of her 40th birthday, she penned a heartfelt letter on Twitter talking about the hardships that Bollywood actresses face in their career and their life after they get married.

Read the full-unedited text of Rani's letter here:

"It feels great to be 40! It feels great to have also worked for 22 years and having been incredibly lucky to get so much love and appreciation. Very rarely do we artists get material that can genuinely cause social change, cause change in attitude and thinking and I have been fortunate enough to get such content multiple times. I truly feel blessed. I thank all the film-makers who have trusted me with their characters. Your characters, your films, became my identity.

I realised very late that I was actually born to be an actor, that I was born to entertain. And/hope I have been able to do just that As a woman, I must admit, it has not been an easy journey. I had to prove myself everyday. Actresses have to prove themselves everyday. A woman has a short career span, a married woman's equity dies, women are not bankable commodities at the box office, 'female-centric' c hate this word!!) films are huge risks, a married actress who is also a mother is the final nail in the coffin of her dreams, ambitions and aspirations - these are some of the discriminatory stereotypes that we have to live with and try to overcome every single day.

For a woman, the disparity with a man is huge and glaring in this industry. We am judged for our looks, our dancing skills, our height, our voice, our acting, how we carry ourselves every time we step outs/the house - we have to be the best and yet we are thought to be extremely dispensable. I have been asking my friends to talk about their weaknesses and how they overcame them. On my birthday I cannot skirt these massive hichkis that my fellow actresses and/have faced/face and will face every day.

I have tried to take on this sexist stereotype by coming back to acting after my marriage and motherhood. And I promise you, I will continue working and battling these stereotypes with all my fellow stunning, beautiful kind and talented actresses and hope to see our society and the film industry mature further I can already see the changes for the better and it fills me with joy It makes my journey, my career meaningful. I want to see many more victories for all of us. It's about time. I will be back soon - to try and entertain you, to push the envelope again. Till then, love you all.

Yours forever,
RANI"