Kajol

Kajol Devgan (née Mukherjee; born 5 August 1974), known mononymously as Kajol, is an Indian actress.

Described in the media as one of the most successful actresses of Hindi cinema, she is the recipient of numerous accolades, such as six Filmfare Awards, which include a record-tying five Best Actress wins.

Kajol was born in Bombay (present-day Mumbai) on 5 August 1974.

Her mother, Tanuja, is an actress, while her father Shomu Mukherjee was a film director and producer.

Her younger sister, Tanishaa, is also an actress.

Her maternal aunt was actress Nutan and her maternal grandmother, Shobhna Samarth, and great-grandmother, Rattan Bai, were both involved in Hindi cinema.

Her paternal uncles, Joy Mukherjee and Deb Mukherjee, are film producers, while her paternal and maternal grandfathers, Sashadhar Mukherjee and Kumarsen Samarth, respectively, were filmmakers.

Kajol's cousins Rani Mukerji, Sharbani Mukherjee, and Mohnish Bahl are also actors; whereas Ayan Mukerji is a director.

Kajol describes herself as being mischievous, stubborn, and impulsive at a young age.

Her parents separated when she was young, but Kajol was unaffected by it since the matter was never discussed at home.

Kajol was looked after by her maternal grandmother, who "never let me feel that my mother was away and working".

According to Kajol, her mother inculcated a sense of independence in her since she was young.

Growing up between two separate cultures, she inherited her "Maharashtrian pragmatism" from her mother and her "Bengali temperament" from her father.

As part of tradition, along with the Mukherjee family, Kajol, a practising Hindu, celebrates the Durga Puja festival in the suburban neighbourhood of Santacruz annually.

Kajol was educated at St. Joseph's Convent School, Panchgani.

Apart from her studies, she participated in extra-curricular activities, such as dancing.

It was in school that she began to form an active interest in reading fiction, as it helped her "through the bad moments" in her life.

In the early 1990s, Tanuja tried to direct a film to launch her as an actress, but it was shelved after a few days of shooting.

At sixteen, Kajol began work on Bekhudi, which according to her was a "big dose of luck"; she was cast by him when she visited the studio of the photographer Gautam Rajadhyaksha, who also wrote the film's screenplay.

She intended to return to school after shooting during her two-months summer vacation but eventually dropped out to pursue a full-time career in film—though she later regretted the decision.

The daughter of Tanuja and Shomu Mukherjee, Kajol made her acting debut with Bekhudi (1992) while still in school.

Kajol made her acting debut at age seventeen in the 1992 romantic drama Bekhudi alongside another debutant, Kamal Sadanah, and her mother Tanuja.

Kajol played Radhika, who falls in love with Sadanah's character against her parents' disapproval.

The film turned out to be a box office flop, but Kajol's performance gained positive notice.

She subsequently quit her studies, and had commercial successes in Baazigar (1993), opposite Shah Rukh Khan, and Yeh Dillagi (1994).

The following year, she was cast in Abbas–Mustan's crime thriller Baazigar (1993), the fourth-highest-grossing film of the year with revenues of inr 182500000.

Co-starring Shah Rukh Khan and Shilpa Shetty, the film saw Kajol in the role of Priya Chopra, a young woman who falls in love with her sister's murderer, unaware of his identity.

Baazigar marked the first of her many collaborations with Khan.

Although her performance drew critical attention, Kajol was criticised for her looks.

In 1994, Kajol appeared in Udhaar Ki Zindagi as an orphaned girl who visits her estranged grandparents (Jeetendra and Moushumi Chatterjee).

It failed to do well at the box office, however, Kajol was named the Best Actress (Hindi) by the Bengal Film Journalists' Association.

Starring roles with Khan in the top-grossing romances Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995) and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998) established her as a leading star in the 1990s and earned her two Filmfare Awards for Best Actress.

She also gained critical appreciation for playing a psychopathic killer in Gupt: The Hidden Truth (1997) and an avenger in Dushman (1998).

After starring in the family drama Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... (2001), which won her a third Filmfare Award, Kajol took a sabbatical from full-time acting and worked infrequently over the next decades.

She won two more Best Actress awards at Filmfare for starring in the romantic thriller Fanaa (2006) and the drama My Name Is Khan (2010).

She has featured as a talent judge for the reality show Rock-N-Roll Family in 2008, and holds a managerial position at Devgn Entertainment and Software Ltd. Kajol has been married to the actor and filmmaker Ajay Devgn since 1999, with whom she has two children.

In 2011, she was honoured with the Padma Shri by the Government of India.

Her highest-grossing releases came with the comedy Dilwale (2015) and the period film Tanhaji (2020).

She has since starred in the streaming projects Tribhanga (2021) and The Trial (2023).

In addition to acting in films, Kajol is a social activist and noted for her work with widows and children.