Rani Mukerji

Rani Mukerji (born March 21, 1978, Calcutta? [now Kolkata], West Bengal, India) is an Indian actress who works primarily in Bollywood films. She is known for the variety of her roles across commercial hits and critically acclaimed cinema. Mukerji, who belongs to one of India’s most prolific film dynasties, has won several awards and is widely regarded for the intensity and depth of her performances.

Family

Rani Mukerji was born either in Calcutta (now Kolkata) or Bombay (now Mumbai), according to differing accounts. She belongs to one of Bollywood’s most prominent families. The first generation was headed by Sasadhar Mukherjee, a pioneer of the studio system in the early years of Hindi cinema and an uncle of Mukerji’s father, filmmaker Ram Mukherjee. Mukerji’s mother, Krishna Mukherjee, is a singer and the sister of Bengali film star Debashree Roy, and her brother, Raja Mukerji, is also active in the film industry. On her father’s side Rani Mukerji is the niece of actors Joy Mukherjee and Deb Mukherjee; actresses Kajol (who is married to actor Ajay Devgn), Tanisha Mukerji, and Sharbani Mukherjee and director Ayan Mukerji are her cousins. Veteran actress Tanuja, who is Kajol and Tanisha Mukerji’s mother, is Rani Mukerji’s aunt by marriage. Rani Mukerji married filmmaker Aditya Chopra, son of veteran filmmaker Yash Chopra, in 2014, and they have a daughter named Adira.

Early years in Bollywood

Mukerji made her debut in a supporting role in the Bengali film Biyer Phul (1996; “Wedding Flowers”), directed by her father. Her first Hindi film was Raja Ki Aayegi Baaraat (1997; “The King’s Entourage Will Come”), in which she played the lead role of a sexual assault survivor forced to marry her rapist. Neither film did well at the box office, but Mukerji shot to stardom with two films released in 1998: Ghulam (“Slave”), opposite Aamir Khan, and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (“Something Happens”), in which she and Salman Khan appeared in supporting roles opposite Kajol and superstar Shah Rukh Khan. Mukerji won her first Filmfare Award, for best supporting actress, for her performance as the effervescent Tina, with whom Shah Rukh Khan’s character falls in love at university, in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai.

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Rise to stardom

By the early 2000s Mukerji’s reputation had progressed into superstardom, with films such as Badal (2000), Hey Ram (2000), Bichhoo (2000; “Scorpion”), Chori Chori Chupke Chupke (2001; “Secretly and Stealthily”), Nayak: The Real Hero (2001; “Hero”), and Mujhse Dosti Karoge (2002; “Will You Be My Friend?”). She reunited with her Kuch Kuch Hota Hai costar Shah Rukh Khan in films such as Chalte Chalte (2003; “On the Way”), in which they play a couple whose marriage is threatened by financial hardship. She also formed a successful partnership with actor Abhishek Bachchan, appearing together in the Mani Ratnam-directed Yuva (2004; “Youth”), in which her character was the abused wife of a petty criminal; the critical and commercial hit Bunty Aur Babli (2005; “Bunty and Babli”), a crime caper in which Mukerji played one half of a pair of scammers; and Laaga Chunari Mein Daag: Journey of a Woman (2007; “A Stain on the Veil”), an ultimately uplifting story of a woman who becomes an escort to help her impoverished family.

Rani Mukerji starred with Khan and Bachchan in Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006; “Never Say Goodbye”), director Karan Johar’s examination of infidelity in which she was cast as Bachchan’s wife and Khan’s lover. She was also cast with Saif Ali Khan in movies such as Hum Tum (2004; “Me and You”), Ta Ra Rum Pum (2007), and Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic (2008; “A Little Love, A Little Magic”).

Mukerji has established a reputation for delivering sensitive and nuanced performances within the mainstream framework and is highly regarded for her versatility. She starred with Vivek Oberoi in Saathiya (2002; “Companion”), playing a young couple who marry despite opposition from their families and who struggle with socioeconomic inequalities in their relationship. In Hum Tum she and Saif Ali Khan were cast as friends who navigate the complicated process of transforming their connection into a romantic one. She appeared opposite Shah Rukh Khan again in Paheli (2005; “Riddle”), playing a rural woman whose husband (Khan) leaves on a trip and who is then visited by a ghost that has assumed her husband’s form.

Critical acclaim

By the mid 2000s Rani Mukerji had begun transitioning away from conventional romantic lead roles toward more individualistic fare. In Veer-Zaara (2004) she played a Pakistani human rights lawyer representing an Indian Air Force officer (played by Khan), who had spent more than 20 years in a Pakistani prison. The critically acclaimed Black (2005) examined the relationship between a disabled woman (played by Mukerji) and her former tutor (played by Amitabh Bachchan), who has Alzheimer disease. She developed her artistry with diverse roles, such as a sex worker in Saawariya (2007; “Beloved”), costarring Ranbir Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor in their debuts; an investigative reporter in No One Killed Jessica (2011), based on the 1999 murder of Indian model Jessica Lall; a grieving mother in Talaash: The Answer Lies Within (2012; “Search”), costarring Aamir Khan; a police officer hunting down a gang of child traffickers in Mardaani (2014; “Masculinity”); and a teacher with Tourette syndrome in Hichki (2018; “Hiccup”).

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Rani Mukerji returned to two of her best-known roles in the sequels Mardaani 2 (2019) and Bunty Aur Babli 2 (2021), neither of which achieved the popularity of the originals. She had more success with the 2023 film Mrs. Chatterjee vs. Norway, based on the true story of an Indian expatriate couple in Norway, whose two children were removed from their care by the country’s child protection services. Mukerji’s performance as a mother battling to regain custody of her children was singled out for praise, and she won the National Film Award for best actress in 2025. In 2026 she reprised her role as a police officer in Mardaani 3.