Rani Mukerji (born 21 March 1978) is an Indian actress who works primarily in Hindi cinema. She is known for her versatility and has received numerous awards, including seven Filmfare Awards. Mukerji has been listed as one of the highest-paid actresses of the 2000s.
Although Mukerji was born into the Mukherjee-Samarth family, which included members of the Indian film business, she had no desire to work in the profession. She dabbled in acting as a teenager, appearing in her father Ram Mukherjee's Bengali-language film Biyer Phool and the social drama Raja Ki Aayegi Baraat (both 1996). Mukerji's first commercial triumph came with the action film Ghulam (1998), followed by the romance Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998). Following a temporary setback, the year 2002 represented a watershed moment for her when she was cast as the lead in the drama Saathiya by Yash Raj Films.
Mukerji rose to prominence by appearing in commercially popular romance films such as Chalte Chalte (2003), Hum Tum (2004), Veer-Zaara (2004), and Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006), as well as the criminal comedy Bunty Aur Babli (2005). She also received attention for her roles as an abusive wife in Yuva (2004) and a deaf and blind lady in Black (2005). Mukerji's efforts with Yash Raj Films between 2007 and 2010 resulted in multiple disastrous films, prompting reviewers to criticize her casting choices. This changed when she portrayed a fiery journalist in the 2011 thriller No One Killed Jessica. The thrillers Talaash (2012), Mardaani (2014), and Mardaani 2 (2019) followed, as did the comedy-drama Hichki (2018), which became her highest-grossing release, and the drama Mrs Chatterjee versus Norway (2023).
Mukerji is active in humanitarian causes and speaks out about issues affecting women and children. She has performed in concert tours and on stage, and she was a talent judge on the 2009 reality show Dance Premier League. Mukerji is married to Aditya Chopra, a director, with whom she has a daughter.
Early life and employment
Mukerji was born on March 21, 1978, in Mumbai (modern-day Mumbai). Ram Mukherjee (Mukherjee-Samarth family) was a former film director and one of the founders of Filmalaya Studios. Krishna Mukherjee, her mother, is a former playback singer. Raja Mukherjee, her elder brother, is a film producer and director. Her maternal aunt, Debashree Roy, is a Bengali film actress, and her paternal cousin, Kajol, is a contemporary Hindi cinema actress. Ayan Mukerji, another paternal cousin, is a scriptwriter and film director. Mukerji was uninterested in pursuing a career in film despite the fact that her parents and most of her family worked in the Indian film business. "There were already too many actresses at home," she explained, "and I wanted to be someone different."
Mukerji attended Maneckji Cooper High School in Juhu and graduated from SNDT Women's University with a degree in Home Science. She is an Odissi dancer who began studying the dance genre in the tenth grade. Every year, the Mukherjee family celebrates the Durga Puja celebration in the Santacruz suburbs as part of an annual ritual. Mukerji, a devout Hindu, attends the festivities with her entire family.
Salim Khan approached Mukerji in 1994 about playing the lead female part in his film Aa Gale Lag Jaa. Her father was opposed to her pursuing a full-time career in movies at such a young age, so she declined the offer. At the age of 18, Mukerji accepted prominent 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, at the advice of her mother. Mukerji studied acting at Roshan Taneja's institute before beginning work on Raja Ki Aayegi Baraat. In the film, she played a rape victim who is forced to marry her rapist. Despite the film's commercial failure, Mukerji received a special commendation prize at the annual Screen Awards ceremony for her performance. Following the film's disappointing box office performance, Mukerji went to college to finish her education. However, emboldened by the success of her cousin Kajol in Hindi films, she chose to pursue a full-time career in cinema.
Career
Breakthrough and early difficulties (1998-2001)
Mukerji's first commercial triumph came in 1998, when she co-starred with Aamir Khan in Vikram Bhatt's action flick Ghulam. Despite her minor appearance in the film, her song "Aati Kya Khandala" gained her popular acclaim. Bhatt had someone with a higher pitched voice dub Mukerji's lines since her husky voice "did not suit the character," according to Mukerji. Karan Johar put her opposite Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol in his directorial debut Kuch Kuch Hota Hai the same year. The character was originally written for Twinkle Khanna, but after she and several other leading ladies turned it down, Johar signed Mukerji on Khan's and filmmaker Aditya Chopra's urging. Tina, Khan's love interest and later wife, dies shortly after giving birth to their daughter. Originally, Johar planned to dub Mukerji's voice, but she improved her diction and eventually gave her own. Nandita Chowdhury of India Today commented in her review that "the gorgeous Rani steals the show, oozing oomph from every pore, she also proves herself an actress whose time has come." Kuch Kuch Hota Hai was a breakthrough for Mukerji, generating over $1 billion (US$13 million) to become the year's highest-grossing Hindi film, and garnering Mukerji eight Filmfare Awards, including Best Supporting Actress. Following that, she had prominent roles in Mehndi (1998) and Hello Brother (1999), both of which were critical and commercial failures that did not drive her career forward.
By the year 2000, Mukerji was tired of being stereotyped as a "standard Hindi film heroine" and chose to take on more challenging roles in addition to the archetypical attractive lead. She played roles that received minimal appreciation from critics in Badal and Bichhoo, two male-centric action movies starring Bobby Deol. More satisfying was a supporting role in Kamal Haasan's bilingual flick Hey Ram. Mukerji played a Bengali schoolteacher who is raped and murdered during communal riots in Calcutta in the film, which was partly based on the killing of Mahatma Gandhi. She had previously only played attractive characters, but Haasan's insistence on realism and appearing on TV without make-up were a challenge; she said the experience transformed her approach to acting. The film's contentious subject matter resulted in low box office receipts, but it was critically lauded and chosen as India's official entry to the Oscars. Following her roles in the romantic comedies Hadh Kar Di Aapne and Kahin Pyaar Na Ho Jaaye, Mukerji co-starred with Salman Khan and Preity Zinta in the romantic comedy Har Dil Jo Pyar Karega, for which she received a Filmfare nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Padmaraj Nair of Screen said her role was "too meager for her to prove herself," but she was "quite adequate in whatever scenes she has been given."
Chori Chori Chupke Chupke, Mukerji's first feature of 2001, was delayed by a few months due to a controversy regarding the film's funding by the Mumbai mafia. The surrogacy-themed film was her second collaboration with Salman Khan and Zinta. Sukanya Verma, a film reviewer, thought Mukerji was "handicapped with a role that doesn't give her much scope" and preferred Zinta's "meatier" role. Mukerji played the love interests of Abhishek Bachchan and Anil Kapoor in the films Bas Itna Sa Khwaab Hai and Nayak: The Real Hero, both of which failed to find a wide theatrical audience. Sarita Tanwar of Rediff.com lamented in a review for the latter film that she had "very little to do except being part of some magnificently picturised songs." According to a Mint report, the majority of her roles after Kuch Kuch Hota Hai were "insignificant."
(2002-2006) Established actress
Mukerji began working with Yash Raj Films in 2002, when she was cast in two films: Mujhse Dosti Karoge!Saathiya, an adaptation of the Tamil romance Alaipayuthey, and, a romantic comedy co-starring Hrithik Roshan and Kareena Kapoor. The former, as well as her two collaborations with Govinda that year—Pyaar Diwana Hota Hai and Chalo Ishq Ladaaye—performed poorly at the box office. However, the love drama Saathiya proved to be a watershed moment in her career. She won her first Best Actress nomination and the Critics Award for Best Actress at the 48th Filmfare Awards. Shaad Ali cast her in the character of Suhani Sharma, a medical student dealing with the difficulties of being married at such a young age, because of the vulnerability he saw in her. She first declined the offer because she loathed the idea of duplicating a successful film, but the film's producer, Aditya Chopra, persuaded her to accept the role. She starred opposite Vivek Oberoi, whom she disliked working with because his "attitude was bothersome." Saathiya became a commercial success. "Mukerji plays the character of a middle-class girl with great conviction," according to the BBC, and "her expressions and acting are understated in a role that fits her like a glove," according to Udita Jhunjhunwala of Mid-Day.
The year 2003 marked the beginning of Mukerji's most successful phase. In Aziz Mirza's romance Chalte Chalte, she replaced Aishwarya Rai as the lead alongside Shah Rukh Khan. According to media sources, Rai was replaced after a fight with her then-boyfriend Salman Khan on the set of the film, although Shah Rukh Khan stated that Mukerji was the initial option for the role. Mukerji thought the theme of Chalte Chalte, which dealt with disagreements between a married couple, was similar to that of Saathiya, and she wanted to give the part variation by setting "them against a different background." She has stated that working with Shah Rukh Khan was a learning experience for her, and that he would frequently reprimand her if she did poorly. Box Office India praised it as Mukerji's career resurgence, and she was rewarded with a second Best Actress nomination at Filmfare. Her other movies this year, Chori Chori, Calcutta Mail, and LOC Kargil, failed to make an impression.
Mukerji won both the Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress prizes at the 50th Filmfare prizes, making her the only actress to do so in the same year. Mani Ratnam's Yuva (2004), a composite film with an ensemble cast about three youngsters from different strata of society whose lives intersect by a car accident, won Best Supporting Actress; Mukerji was cast as a poor Bengali housewife who is abused by her husband, a local goon (Abhishek Bachchan). She modeled her role after her housekeepers who had been abused by their husbands, observing their body language and speaking style. Taran Adarsh wrote, "Amongst the leading ladies, it is Rani Mukerji who is the best of the lot. The role demanded an actress of substance and Rani more than lives up to the expectations." She won the Best Actress award for her starring role in Kunal Kohli's Hum Tum (2004), a romantic comedy about two headstrong individuals who meet at different stages of their lives. The film, which starred her opposite Saif Ali Khan, was one of the year's major commercial triumphs. The Hindu called Mukerji's portrayal of Rhea Prakash "self-assuredly competent," and Rediff.com's Tanmaya Kumar Nanda said, "Rani is her usual collected self, changing into the many hues of her character with the ease of a chameleon."
Yash Chopra cast her in his historical love drama Veer-Zaara (2004), and her fame continued. It is about the titular star-crossed lovers (Shah Rukh Khan and Preity Zinta) and is set against the backdrop of India-Pakistan ties. Mukerji played a Pakistani lawyer who tries to help the couple in a role that was initially created for a guy. Veer-Zaara was the highest-grossing Hindi film of the year, with a worldwide gross of 940 million (US$12 million), and it was later presented at the Berlin International Film Festival. Variety's Derek Elley praised Mukerji's "quietly dignified performance," and the BBC said she "deserves praise for her acting. To act through your eyes and not use dialogue is an art. Rani for one, has perfected this." She won the IIFA Award for Best Supporting Actress and was nominated for Filmfare in the same category.
According to Outlook magazine, Mukerji has established herself as the most successful actress in contemporary Hindi cinema. Her first film role that year was in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Black, a drama about an alcoholic guy who devotes his life to teaching a blind and deaf daughter how to communicate. Bhansali deliberately developed the role of the blind-deaf girl for Mukerji, who was initially hesitant to take on the role due to its "challenging" subject matter. She accepted to study sign language with professionals at the Helen Keller Institute in Mumbai after Bhansali instilled his faith in her. Black received two National picture Awards and 11 Filmfare Awards, and Time magazine's Richard Corliss named it the sixth finest picture of the year. Mukerji's performance was described as "astonishing" by Empire magazine, and Filmfare included her work in their list of Indian cinema's "80 Most Iconic Performances," writing, "Rani has left an indelible mark with this role that usually comes once in a lifetime for most." At the Filmfare Awards, she became the only actress to win both the Best Actress and Best Actress - Critics trophies.
Mukerji won another Best Actress nomination at Filmfare that year for her performance opposite Abhishek Bachchan in Bunty Aur Babli, her fifth collaboration with Yash Raj Films. She portrayed Babli, a con woman, in the film. The film was the second most successful Hindi film of 2005. Outlook's Namrata Joshi commented that she "plays to the gallery with ease." Mukerji's next film was Amol Palekar's fantasy film Paheli, which reunited her with Shah Rukh Khan. The film was a box office disappointment in India, but it received a successful international release, including screenings at the Sundance Film Festival and India's nomination for Best Foreign Language Film at the 79th Academy Awards. Rediff.com's Raja Sen praised the film and Mukerji's performance, calling it "another perfectly played part." Mangal Pandey: The Rising, about the titular soldier, was Mukerji's final release of the year. Director Ketan Mehta asked her for a cameo role, which was expanded into a major role during filming. Her character was Heera, a prostitute who falls in love with Pandey (Aamir Khan). Derek Elley stated that Mukerji made "the most of her feisty nautch-girl" despite the small role.
Mukerji declined Mira Nair's offer to star in the English film The Namesake, instead reuniting with Karan Johar in Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006), a drama about infidelity. She co-starred alongside Shah Rukh Khan, Abhishek Bachchan, and Zinta as an unhappy married woman who has an affair with a married guy. Mukerji stated that the contentious nature of her position impacted her perception of love and marriage. Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna was a successful release, collecting over 1.13 billion rupees (US$14 million) to become the highest-grossing Hindi film in the world at the time. The "consistently competent Rani Mukherjee takes on the film's toughest role — a part that may be hard to sympathise with — but she injects it with tenderness and believability," wrote Rajeev Masand, but Kaveree Bamzai of India Today dismissed it as another of her roles requiring the "art of weeping copiously and smiling valiantly." It earned Mukerji her third consecutive IIFA Award for Best Actress and her sixth Filmfare nomination for Best Actress. Her final film performance that year was in the mediocre melodrama Baabul.
Professional hiccup (2007-2009)
Following the failure of Baabul, Yash Raj Films cast Mukerji in Siddharth Anand's family drama Ta Ra Rum Pum as the wife and mother of a racing driver (Saif Ali Khan). She was thrilled to play a mother for the first time, and based her character on her own mother. The picture was a financial success when it was released in 2007, but it earned mixed reviews from reviewers. Khalid Mohamed praised Mukerji's performance as "near flawless," but Rajeev Masand felt that neither she nor Khan "are able to make much of an impression because their characters are so unidimensional and boring." Mukerji starred in director Pradeep Sarkar's drama Laaga Chunari Mein Daag as a young woman forced to moonlight as a prostitute to support her family. Her performance got her a fifth Best Actress nomination at Filmfare, although the film performed poorly critically and financially. According to Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express, Mukerji was responsible for "holding the film together, even if her part, both as the ingénue and the hooker, lacks freshness."
Mukerji reprised her role as a prostitute in Bhansali's Saawariya, a remake of Fyodor Dostoevsky's White Nights starring Ranbir Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor. She emphasized that the prostitutes she portrayed in succession were distinct, with the one in Saawariya having "no problem with her profession." It was the first Indian picture produced by a Hollywood studio, Sony Pictures, and her first release in three years that was not produced by Yash Raj Films. The film was a box office disappointment and received negative reviews from reviewers. A. Mukerji's performance, as described by A. The New York Times described her as "divine," earning her a second Filmfare nomination that year for Best Supporting Actress. Mukerji's popularity has begun to fade by the end of 2007. According to Rediff.com, this was due to her "monotonous pairing" with the same set of actors; the Hindustan Times reported that she had become a "exclusive Yash Raj heroine," preventing other filmmakers from contacting her.
Following a string of tragic roles, Mukerji wanted a lighter role, which she found in Kunal Kohli's Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic (2008), a children's film about an angel who visits Earth to heal four troubled children. Khalid Mohamed noted in a critical review of Mukerji's choice of parts that "she's one-dimensional, either darting full blast smiles or tetchy scowls. Her costumes, too, are uneasy-on-the-eyes." The film's box office performance contributed to Mukerji's professional chances deteriorating further. An article in India Today described her "running out of luck at the box office" and her fall in endorsements.
Mukerji lost weight and undertook a makeover in an attempt to reverse her decline. She continues to work with Yash Raj Films, starring alongside Shahid Kapoor in the romantic comedy Dil Bole Hadippa! (2009). Mukerji had great hopes for her role as a cricket-obsessed Punjabi country girl disguised as a male, which had its global premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. Mukerji "comes up with a spirited performance but her mock sob-whine-whimper do not amuse anymore. Also, after a point, you dislike visualizing the charming actress as the moustached male player," noted Economic Times critic Gaurav Malani. Mukerji's fourth consecutive financial disaster. When asked about her recent string of disappointments with Yash Raj Films, she defended the partnerships, saying, "I stand by those films regardless of their fate." She later appeared as a talent judge on the Sony Entertainment Television reality show Dance Premier League later that year. She decided to appear on television in order to acquire recognition during a difficult period in her film career.
Hichki and thriller success (2010-2019)
Mukerji's performance in the 2011 film No One Killed Jessica was praised as "one of her best performances till date" by Aniruddha Guha of Daily News and Analysis. The film, co-starring Vidya Balan, was Mukerji's first commercial triumph since Ta Ra Rum Pum, and it was notable for being so in the absence of a male star. Based on the murder of Jessica Lal, it starred Mukerji as a fictionalized foul-mouthed journalist who is heavily entangled in the investigation. Certain critics, however, were critical of her performance, including Anupama Chopra, who called her role "the fatal, false note," arguing that "the character is written superficially and Rani's portrayal of her is equally banal. It's all about externals. She argues a lot and proudly labels herself a bitch but her hair stays perfectly in place and
Mukerji went on to play the lead in the comedy of manners Aiyyaa (2012). She plays a woman with a heightened sense of smell who develops a one-sided attraction to Prithviraj Sukumaran's character under the direction of Sachin Kundalkar. Rediff.com criticized her decision to star in the film, claiming that she "gets no support from the way her character is written" because it was critically and commercially disastrous. In Reema Kagti's psychological thriller Talaash: The Answer Lies Within, she played Roshni Shekhawat, a woman grieving the death of her child. The film, which starred Aamir Khan and Kareena Kapoor, grossed over 1.74 billion rupees (US$22 million) globally, making it the year's seventh highest-grossing Hindi film. Mukerji was characterized as "vivid in a quietly sympathetic role" by Variety's Ronnie Schieb, and she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress at Filmfare.
Mukerji appeared in the anthology film Bombay Talkies, which consisted of four short films, in 2013. She appeared in a Johar-directed episode in which she played a journalist who realizes her husband (Randeep Hooda) is gay. The movie premiered at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. Despite weak box office earnings, Bombay Talkies received critical accolades, particularly for Johar's section; Tushar Joshi of Daily News and Analysis commended Mukerji's portrayal for its subtlety. The next year, Mukerji acted in Pradeep Sarkar's crime thriller Mardaani as Shivani Shivaji Roy, a Marathi policewoman involved in a kidnapping case who uncovers secrets of human trafficking. She accepted the job to demonstrate to girls "how they need to protect themselves." In preparation, she met with senior Mumbai Police officers and mastered the Israeli self-defense technique Krav Maga. Anupama Chopra praised Mukerji for "investing Shivani with both physical strength and emotional courage, she gives us a hero that's hard not to root for," while Rajeev Masand praised her for "investing Shivani with both physical strength and emotional courage." The film was a commercial success, and Mukerji received another Filmfare nomination for Best Actress.
Mukerji took a four-year break after the birth of her kid to focus on her daughter, but was convinced to return to acting by her husband, Aditya Chopra. She was looking for a project that would allow her to work around her parental obligations, and she found it in the comedy-drama Hichki (2018). The film, which is based on Brad Cohen's autobiography Front of the Class, depicts the narrative of Naina Mathur, an ambitious teacher with Tourette syndrome who must prove herself by instructing disadvantaged youngsters. Mukerji chatted with Cohen and practiced making her character's motor and vocal tics appear natural and unrehearsed. Anna M. M. Vetticad of Firstpost wrote in a mixed review that she "lifts Hichki every time she is on the scene, bringing empathy and charm to Naina's character without at any moment soliciting the audience's pity." It earned $2.33 billion (US$29 million) worldwide, the majority of which came from the Chinese box office, and Mukerji expressed an interest in working more frequently in the future. She was nominated for Best Actress again at Filmfare.
Mukerji played Shivani Shivaji Roy again in Mardaani 2 (2019), directed by Gopi Puthran, who also authored the original film. Roy is pitted against a juvenile rapist (Vishal Jethwa) in it. According to the Indian Express, Mukerji is "in command right through as she works to a script that pushes her to the fore at every given opportunity," however Film Companion's Rahul Desai criticized her for overplaying Roy as "more of a Dhoom franchise character" than a cop. Mardaani 2 did well at the box office, earning her another nomination for Best Actress at the Filmfare Awards. Following the economic success of three straight films, Filmfare credited Mukerji with overcoming "the stereotype that actresses have battled for generations that after marriage and children, an actress' career in Bollywood ends."
Work on a part-time basis (2020-present)
Mukerji resumed her role as Babli from Bunty Aur Babli in the sequel Bunty Aur Babli 2 in 2021. The film was a commercial and critical disaster, and its technical parts were criticised, however critics for Hindustan Times and The Times of India praised Mukerji's performance and comic timing. Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway (2023), a drama about a real-life Bengali woman whose children were taken away by the Norwegian Child Welfare Services, followed Mukerji. It was her first production in over a decade that was not produced by Yash Raj Films. Her character's diction and mannerisms were inspired by her own mother. Namrata Joshi, writing for Screen Daily, criticized the film's melodramatic tone, saying that "most disappointing is an otherwise reliable Mukherji being far from effective in her shrill and showy turn." It was a sleeper smash despite being made on a minimal budget.
Private life
Mukerji chooses not to make her personal life public. She limits her interactions with the media and is sometimes labeled a recluse; she stated in a 2011 interview, "Today actors have become more open with the media, but this has posed a problem for actors like me because if I don't do that, then I end up being labeled reclusive. So now I have changed myself and am easily approachable."
The nature of Mukerji's relationship with filmmaker Aditya Chopra was the subject of intense tabloid reporting in India, despite her refusal to speak publicly about it. According to accounts, she and Chopra began dating shortly after his divorce. "He was just out of his divorce, and I think he wasn't in the mood to see anyone," Rani explained in an interview. She married Chopra in a private Bengali ceremony in Italy on April 21, 2014. She gave birth to their daughter Adira the next year. She has stated that "being a mother is the happiest time of my life." Mukerji believes in maintaining a work-life balance after childbirth, saying that "it is extremely important for [a mother] to have a career and use her time constructively." She has no social media accounts since she tries to keep a low profile.
Work done away from the camera
Other appearances and stage shows
Mukerji has appeared on a number of musical tours and televised award ceremonies. Her debut concert tour, "Magnificent Five," took place in 1999, and featured actors Aamir Khan, Aishwarya Rai, Akshaye Khanna, and Twinkle Khanna. Mukerji appeared at 19 stage events around the world as part of the "Temptations 2004" concert, alongside Shah Rukh Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Preity Zinta, Arjun Rampal, and Priyanka Chopra. The next year, she performed in New Delhi with Shah Rukh Khan, Fardeen Khan, Ameesha Patel, and Malaika Arora Khan in the "Temptations 2005" event, which was organized to collect funds for the National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP).
Mukerji appeared with various Bollywood actors, including Shah Rukh Khan, Rampal, and Ishaa Koppikar, at a concert in Dhaka, Bangladesh, in 2010. Mukerji performed alongside Shah Rukh Khan, Zinta, and Bipasha Basu at the "Temptations Reloaded" concert in Jakarta in 2012, Shah Rukh Khan, Madhuri Dixit, and Jacqueline Fernandez at the same concert in Auckland in 2013, and Shah Rukh Khan, Dixit, Yo Yo Honey Singh, and Arijit Singh in Malaysia in 2014.
Mukerji was scheduled to present at the Cannes Film Festival in 2011 alongside Sabyasachi Mukherjee and Karan Johar, but she opted out due to her father's illness. She has also appeared in documentaries such as Bollywood im Alpenrausch, Gambling, Gods and LSD, and Shah Rukh Khan's Outer World. Furthermore, Mukerji has frequently served as a muse for numerous designers, including Sabyasachi, at the Lakme Fashion Week. During "The Couture for a Cause - The Being Human Show" in 2010, she walked the runway for Salman Khan's Being Human's amazing 40s era fashion.
Humanitarian efforts
Mukerji is interested in humanitarian activities and is vocal about issues affecting women and children in addition to her acting profession. Procter & Gamble and the NGO Child Rights and You named Mukerji as an ambassador for their joint initiative, Shiksha, to support the cause of children's education. In 2011, she established the Stroke Treatment Fund in collaboration with the Indian Stroke Association to pay for the treatment of financially disadvantaged stroke sufferers. She has appeared in public to support different charities and causes. She visited the Indian army unit in Pokhran, Rajasthan, in March 2004 to interact with the jawan troops for the NDTV reality show Jai Jawan. A decade later, in August 2014, she returned to Baramulla to see the jawans. Mukerji, along with several other Bollywood actors, took part in the 2005 HELP! Telethon Concert to benefit the victims of the Indian Ocean earthquake in 2004.
Mukerji celebrated her birthday with the Helen Keller Institute's physically challenged children in March 2006; she had previously worked with them while preparing for her role in Black. In November 2010, she participated in a charity auction for the "Because I am a Girl" campaign. Mukerji attended a charity dinner in London in 2014, where she was honored by Prince Charles for raising awareness about child abuse through her work in Mardaani.
In 2012, Mukerji also attended the "Junoon" charity cricket match, which was held by the Rotaract Club of HR College Mumbai. She featured as a celebrity guest on the Hindi and Bengali versions of Kaun Banega Crorepati, following which she gave the prize money to charitable organizations. She gave the Hindi version's prize money to the Bandra Holy Family Hospital's NICU center and the Bengali version's winning money to other charitable works.
Artistry and public perception
Mukerji is widely regarded as one of Bollywood's most popular and accomplished actresses. Sukanya Verma remarked in a career study that after making an unorthodox cinematic debut, Mukerji oscillated between success and failure for a few years until acquiring "the status of a star, performer, and showgirl." According to the Indo-Asian News Service, Mukerji was dismissed as the successful Kajol's poor cousin since she was "plump" and "short" during her early years in the profession. Despite this, Raja Sen believes Mukerji "slogged her way with grit" to become a successful performer.
Pradeep Sarkar and Reema Kagti, Mukerji's directors, have noted how much Mukerji prepares for her roles, with Kagti adding, "She gets obsessive about the role and wants to know everything about her character. What's her character's back-story, what's going on in her head at a specific point." In 2012, Mukerji defined her approach to acting as follows:
A month before the shoot, I meet with my director to discuss how he envisions the character on the screen and take notes. Then I begin working on the most fundamental aspect - the appearance. It's critical to decide on the physical appearance of the character because looking like the character makes it more realistic. After that, I delve into the finer points of the girl's personality and background. Then there's the matter of nailing the accent.
Mukerji aggressively avoids typecasting and has been praised for her variety in the media. According to the Hindustan Times, she blends high-profile blockbusters with smaller-scale features. Outlook's Namrata Joshi adds that she is not afraid to take risks and play roles that "none of her contemporaries have been able to do." Mukerji has played roles that were considered a departure from traditional portrayals of women in mainstream Indian cinema at the time: in Hum Tum, she played a widow who engages in pre-marital sex, in Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna, she is involved in an extra-marital affair with a married man, and in Bichhoo and No One Killed Jessica, she smokes, drinks, and mouths expletives. Her husky voice, eyes, and smile have been described as "unconventional beauty" by the media. Mukerji's peculiar "sandpaper-scratchy, I'm-recovering-from-a-bad-cold" voice, according to Baradwaj Rangan, distinguishes her from her peers.
At the height of her career, Mukerji was included among the most gorgeous Indian celebrities, was one of the highest-paid actresses in Bollywood, and served as a brand ambassador for a variety of companies. For two years in a row (2005-2006), Filmfare named her one of the ten most powerful persons in Bollywood. Between 2006 and 2012, Mukerji was named "Asia's Sexiest Women" by the UK magazine Eastern Eye. Mukerji appeared on Box Office India's top actresses list for six years, including two years in a row (2005-2006). She appeared in Rediff.com's annual list of the finest Bollywood actresses from 2002 to 2007, 2012, 2014, and 2018, and topped the list three years in a row (2004-2006). In 2007, Rediff.com included her in their list of Bollywood's finest actresses of all time. Mukerji's popularity has been declining since 2007, and she has lost commercial endorsements to a number of younger actresses. Blue Scholars, an American hip hop group, dedicated a song to Mukerji on their 2011 album Cinemetropolis. In 2013, she was named one of the greatest Bollywood stars in a UK vote commemorating the 100th anniversary of Indian cinema. The American Embassy in India honored her with a unique trophy for her services to Indian cinema the same year. The University of Mumbai honored her for her contributions to Bollywood in 2015, the Government of Mauritius honored her with the Outstanding Contribution to Cinema Award in 2017, and the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne honored her with an award for Excellence in Cinema in 2018. She was named one of the 75 Best Bollywood Actresses by Outlook India.
Accolades
Mukerji won the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress for her work in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998), Yuva (2004), and No One Killed Jessica (2011). She also received the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress for her roles in Saathiya (2002) and Black (2005), as well as the Filmfare Award for Best Actress for her roles in Hum Tum (2004) and Black (2005).
| Bio | |
| Real Name | Rani Mukerji |
| Nickname | Khandala Girl, Baby |
| Profession | Actress |
| Physical Stats & More | |
| Height (approx.) | in centimeters- 160 cm in meters- 1.60 m in Feet Inches- 5' 3" |
| Weight (approx.) | in Kilograms- 58 Kg in Pounds- 127 lbs |
| Figure Measurements (approx.) | 34-30-34 |
| Eye Colour | Brown |
| Hair Colour | Brown |
| Personal Life | |
| Date of Birth | 21 March 1978 |
| Age (as of 2023) | 45 Years |
| Birth Place | Mumbai, Maharashtra, India |
| Zodiac sign/Sun sign | Aries |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Hometown | Kolkata, India |
| School | Maneckjee Cooper High School, Juhu, Mumbai |
| College | Mithibai College, Mumbai |
| Educational Qualifications | Graduate |
| Debut | Film: Raja Ki Aayegi Baraat (1997) TV: Dance Premier League (2009, as a judge) |
| Family | Father- Late Ram Mukherjee (Film director) Mother- Krishna Mukherjee (playback singer) Sister- N/A Brother- Raja Mukherjee (elder) (producer and director) |
| Religion | Hinduism |
| Address (Fan mail address) | Rani Mukherjee 405, Shanti Building B Width 4th Floor Kalyan Complex, Versova Mumbai 400 061 India |
| Hobbies | Dancing |
| Likes & Dislikes | Likes: Playing with her niece whom she lovingly calls “Mishti” Dislikes: When people make fun of her saying she only gets films under Yash Raj Banner |
| Favourite Things | |
| Favourite Actor | Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan |
| Favourite Actress | Sridevi, Sharmila Tagore |
| Favourite Film | Titanic |
| Favourite Color | Red, Blue |
| Favourite Food | Fish prepared by her mother |
| Favourite Outfit | Saree |
| Favourite Destination | Sikkim |
| Favourite Accessory | Diamond ring gifted by her father |
| Favourite Perfume | Polo Sport |
| Boys, Affairs and More | |
| Marital Status | Married |
| Husband/Spouse | Aditya Chopra (Director, Producer) |
| Marriage Date | 21 April 2014 |
| Children | Daughter- Adira Son- None |
| Style Quotient | |
| Cars Collection | Audi A8 W12, Mercedes Benz E-class |
| Money Factor | |
| Salary | 2-3 Crores/film (INR) |
| Net Worth | $25 million |
,-Biography,-Wiki,-Age,-Boyfriend-&-More-134.jpg "Surabhi-Samriddhi Mehra (Chinky Minky), Biography, Wiki, Age, Boyfriend & More")
