Rani Mukherji

Rani Mukerji (pronounced ; born 21 March 1978) is an Indian actress who works in Hindi films. Noted for her versatility, she is the recipient of multiple accolades, including seven Filmfare Awards. Mukerji has featured in listings of the highest-paid actresses of the 2000s.

Although Mukerji was born into the Mukherjee-Samarth family, in which her parents and relatives were members of the Indian film industry, she did not aspire to pursue a career in film. As a teenager she dabbled with acting by starring in her father Ram Mukherjee's Bengali-language film ''Biyer Phool'' and in the social drama ''Raja Ki Aayegi Baraat'' (both 1996). Mukerji had her first commercial success with the action film ''Ghulam'' (1998) and breakthrough with the romance '' Kuch Kuch Hota Hai'' (1998). Following a brief setback, the year 2002 marked a turning point for her when she was cast by Yash Raj Films as the star of the drama '' Saathiya''.

Mukerji established herself by starring in several commercially successful romantic films, including '' Chalte Chalte'' (2003), '' Hum Tum'' (2004), ''Veer-Zaara'' (2004), and ''Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna'' (2006), and the crime comedy ''Bunty Aur Babli'' (2005). She also gained praise for playing an abused wife in the political thriller ''Yuva'' (2004) and a deaf and blind woman in the drama ''Black'' (2005). Mukerji's collaborations with Yash Raj Films from 2007 and 2010 produced several unsuccessful films and led critics to bemoan her choice of roles. This changed when she played a headstrong journalist in the thriller ''No One Killed Jessica'' (2011), and further success came for her starring roles in the thrillers '' Talaash'' (2012), ''Mardaani'' (2014) and its sequel '' Mardaani 2'' (2019), and the comedy-drama '' Hichki'' (2018). The lattermost emerged as her highest-grossing release.

Mukerji is involved with humanitarian causes and is vocal about issues faced by women and children. She has participated in concert tours and stage shows, and featured as a talent judge for the 2009 reality show '' Dance Premier League''. Mukerji is married to filmmaker Aditya Chopra, with whom she has a daughter.

Early life and work

Mukerji was born in Bombay (present-day Mumbai) on 21 March 1978. Her father, Ram Mukherjee (born to the Mukherjee-Samarth family), was a former film director and one of the founders of Filmalaya Studios. Her mother, Krishna Mukherjee, is a former playback singer. Her elder brother, Raja Mukherjee, is a film producer and director. Her maternal aunt, Debashree Roy, is a Bengali film actress and her paternal cousin, Kajol, is a Hindi film actress and her contemporary. Another paternal cousin, Ayan Mukerji, is a scriptwriter and film director. Despite her parents and most of her relatives being members of the Indian film industry, Mukerji was uninterested in pursuing a career in film. She said, "There were already too many actresses at home and I wanted to be someone different".

Mukerji received her education at Maneckji Cooper High School in Juhu and graduated with a degree in Home Science from SNDT Women's University. She is a trained Odissi dance in the suburban neighbourhood of Santacruz every year. Mukerji, a practising Hindu, takes part in the festivities with her entire family.

In 1994, director Salim Khan approached Mukerji to play the lead female role in his directorial, '' Aa Gale Lag Jaa''. Her father disapproved of a full-time career in film at such a young age, so she rejected the offer. At age 18, following her mother's suggestion that she pursue acting on an experimental basis, Mukerji accepted leading roles in the social drama ''Raja Ki Aayegi Baraat'', Khan's second offer to her, and her father's Bengali film ''Biyer Phool'', both of which were released on the same day in October 1996. Before she began work on ''Raja Ki Aayegi Baraat'', Mukerji trained at Roshan Taneja's acting institute. She portrayed a rape victim who is forced to marry her rapist in the film. Although the film was a commercial failure, Mukerji's performance earned her a special recognition trophy at the annual Screen Awards ceremony. Following the film's poor showing at the box office, Mukerji returned to college to complete her education. However, inspired by her cousin Kajol's success in Bollywood, she decided to pursue a full-time career in films.

Career

Breakthrough and initial struggle (1998–2001)

In 1998, Mukerji starred opposite Aamir Khan in Vikram Bhatt's action film ''Ghulam'', her first commercial success. Though her role in the film was small, the song " Aati Kya Khandala" earned her public recognition. Due to Mukerji's husky voice, Bhatt had someone with a higher pitched voice dub her lines; Mukerji stated that it was done as her voice "did not suit the character". In the same year, Karan Johar cast her opposite Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol in his directorial debut '' Kuch Kuch Hota Hai''. The role was originally written for Twinkle Khanna, but when she and several other leading ladies rejected it, Johar signed Mukerji on the insistence of Khan and the filmmaker Aditya Chopra. She played Khan's character's love interest and later wife, Tina who dies after giving birth to their daughter. Johar had originally intended to dub Mukerji's voice, but she improved her diction and eventually provided her own voice. Reviewing the film for ''India Today'', Nandita Chowdhury wrote that it was "the gorgeous Rani who steals the show. Oozing oomph from every pore, she also proves herself an actress whose time has come". ''Kuch Kuch Hota Hai'' proved a breakthrough for Mukerji; it had earnings of over to emerge as the year's top-grossing Hindi film, and won eight Filmfare Awards, including Best Supporting Actress for Mukerji. Following this, she had starring roles in ''Mehndi'' (1998) and '' Hello Brother'' (1999), critical and commercial disappointments that failed to propel her career forward.

By 2000, Mukerji wanted to avoid typecasting as a "standard Hindi film heroine" and thus decided to portray more challenging roles in addition to the archetypical glamorous lead. In ''Badal'' and '' Bichhoo'', two male-centric action dramas (both starring Bobby Deol), she played roles that were met with little acclaim from critics. A supporting role in Kamal Haasan's bilingual film ''Hey Ram'' proved more rewarding. The film was a partly fictionalised account of Mahatma Gandhi's assassination and Mukerji played a Bengali school teacher who is raped and murdered during communal riots in Calcutta. Having only portrayed glamorous roles thus far, she was challenged by Haasan's insistence on realism and to appear on screen without wearing make-up; she believed that the experience changed her approach to acting. The controversial subject matter of ''Hey Ram'' led to poor box office earnings, but the film was critically acclaimed and selected as India's official entry to the Oscars. After starring in the romantic comedies '' Hadh Kar Di Aapne'' and ''Kahin Pyaar Na Ho Jaaye'', Mukerji starred alongside Salman Khan and Preity Zinta in the romantic comedy '' Har Dil Jo Pyar Karega'', which earned her a Best Supporting Actress nomination at Filmfare. Padmaraj Nair of ''Screen'' found her role to be "too meagre for her to prove herself" but added that "she is quite adequate in whatever scenes she has been given".

Mukerji's first film of 2001, ''Chori Chori Chupke Chupke'', was released after controversy over the film's funding by the Mumbai underworld delayed it by a few months. The film, based on surrogacy, marked her second collaboration with Salman Khan and Zinta. Film critic Sukanya Verma found Mukerji to be "handicapped with a role that doesn't give her much scope" and preferred the "meatier" role of Zinta. In '' Bas Itna Sa Khwaab Hai'' and '' Nayak: The Real Hero'', films that failed to gain a wide audience theatrically, Mukerji played the love interests of Abhishek Bachchan and Anil Kapoor respectively. In a review for the latter film, Sarita Tanwar of Rediff.com bemoaned that she had "very little to do except being part of some magnificently picturised songs". An article in ''Mint'' summarised that a majority of her roles post ''Kuch Kuch Hota Hai'' were "inconsequential".

Established actress (2002–2006)

Mukerji began collaborating with Yash Raj Films in 2002, when the company cast her in two productions: '' Mujhse Dosti Karoge!'', a romantic comedy co-starring Hrithik Roshan and Kareena Kapoor, and '' Saathiya'', a remake of the Tamil romance ''Alaipayuthey''. The former performed poorly at the box office, as did her two collaborations with Govinda that year'' Pyaar Diwana Hota Hai'' and ''Chalo Ishq Ladaaye''. The romantic drama ''Saathiya'', however, proved a turning point in her career. At the 48th Filmfare Awards, she received her first Best Actress nomination and was awarded the Critics Award for Best Actress. Shaad Ali cast her in the role of Suhani Sharma, a medical student who deals with the troubles of being married at a young age, for the vulnerability that he found in her. She refused the offer at first as she disliked the idea of remaking an accomplished film but was convinced to accept the part by the film's producer Aditya Chopra. In it, she played opposite Vivek Oberoi, with whom she did not enjoy working, saying that his "attitude was bothersome". ''Saathiya'' emerged as a commercial success. The BBC
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