Kajol Devgan, née Mukherjee , born August 5, 1975 in Mumbai, India, popularly known as Kajol, is an award-winning popular Bollywood actress. Kajol made her acting debut with Bekhudi (1992) and had her first hit with her second film Baazigar (1993) along with Shahrukh Khan, with whom she later went to deliver some of the biggest Bollywood hits like Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (1995) and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998). During her career years, she has been part of many critically and commercially successful films, and is regarded as one of India's most successful actresses.
Film Background
Touted as one of the best actresses in the Bollywood industry, Kajol, who is of Bengali-Marathi descent, in fact belongs to a family tree with a long respectable history in the Indian cinema.
Her mother Tanuja is a Marathi/Hindi actress whilst her father Shomu Mukherjee is a film producer.
Late maternal aunt Nutan is the record holder for the most (five times) Filmfare awards for an actress. Late maternal grandmother Shobhna Samarth and great grandmother Rattan Bai had both been influential figures in the early Bollywood film industry.
Her paternal uncles are also film producers; Joy Mukherjee and Deb Mukherjee. Kajol's grandfather Sashadhar Mukherjee was a film director and producer who had left a great achievement in the Bombay film industry. His wife Satirani Devi, Kajol's paternal grandmother, was the sister of three great film personalities, Ashok Kumar, Anoop Kumar and Kishore Kumar.
Kajol's cousins Rani Mukerji, Sharbani Mukherjee and Mohnish Behl are also Bollywood actors. Kajol's younger sister Tanisha Mukherjee has recently started a film career.
Kajol is now married to Bollywood actor Ajay Devgan and has a daughter named Nysa, which means Goddess of purity.
Career
Kajol left school and started her career at the age of seventeen. Her debut film was Bekhudi in 1992. It was not a great success at the box office, but Kajol was noticed and went onto become a successful actress with many box office hits to her credit.
Kajol shot to fame with her second film Baazigar in 1993 which was her first major hit. She went onto make a popular pairing with her Baazighar co-star Shah Rukh Khan in Karan Arjun (1994), Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995), Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998) and Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (2001).
Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge was so well received that, as of April 2007, it is still showing in a Mumbai cinema, an eleven-year continuous run. Kajol received her first Best Actress Award from Filmfare for her performance in the film.
In 1997 she starred in Gupt: The Hidden Truth which was one of the highest grossing films of that year and her performance was a significant development for female actors in Bollywood; she was the first female actor to win the Filmfare Best Villain Award. Her second Filmfare Best Actress Award was received for her performance in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, which was the biggest hit of that year.
She also made a successful screen couple with husband Ajay Devgan in movies such as Ishq (1997) and Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha (1998).
After the successful Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham in 2001, for which she won several Best Actress Awards including her third Filmfare Best Actress Award, she took a sabbatical from full time acting for five years. She gave birth to her daughter Nysa in 2003. A few months after her delivery, she made a brief cameo appearance in the 2003 film Kal Ho Naa Ho
Before her comeback to the silver screen, in 2005, Kajol had already started acting actively in advertisements, mostly with her husband Ajay Devgan. In May 2006, she made a successful comeback in Fanaa, one of the highest grossing films of the year. She won her fourth Filmfare Best Actress Award for her performance in this movie, portraying a blind Kashmiri girl who fell in love with a Kashmiri independence fighter. Her fourth Filmfare Best Actress Award places her at par with other famous Bollywood actresses, Meena Kumari and Madhuri Dixit, each of whom holds 4 Best Actress Awards from Filmfare. Kajol's late aunt, Nutan is holding the record for five such awards.
Later in August 2006, she made a brief appearance in her friend Karan Johar's Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna in the "Rock n' Roll Soniye" song. This was the film for which she was offered her comeback role, but which she declined over Fanaa instead.
Currently, she is working on her husband Ajay Devgan's directorial debut U, Me Aur Hum which is set for release this year. She is also set to give a guest appearance in Farah Khan's Om Shanti Om.
Filmography
1992 Bekhudi Radhika
1993 Baazigar Priya Chopra
1994 Udhaar Ki Zindagi Sita
1994 Yeh Dillagi Sapna Nominated, Filmfare Best Actress Award
1995 Karan Arjun Sonia Saxena
1995 Taaqat Kavita
1995 Hulchul Sharmili
1995 Gunda Raj Ritu
1995 Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge Simran Singh Winner, Filmfare Best Actress Award
1996 Bambai Ka Babu Neha
1997 Gupt: The Hidden Truth Isha Diwan Winner, Filmfare Best Villain Award
1997 Hamesha Rani Sharma/Reshma
1997 Minsaara Kanavu Priya Tamil film (Sapnay is the Hindi version)
Winner, Filmfare Best Actress Award South
1997 Ishq Kajal
1998 Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya Muskaan Thakur
1998 Duplicate Girl at train station Guest appearance
1998 Dushman Sonia/Naina Saigal Nominated, Filmfare Best Actress Award
1998 Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha Sanjana Nominated, Filmfare Best Actress Award
1998 Kuch Kuch Hota Hai Anjali Sharma Winner, Filmfare Best Actress Award
1999 Dil Kya Kare Nandita Rai
1999 Hum Aapke Dil Mein Rehte Hain Megha Nominated, Filmfare Best Actress Award
1999 Hote Hote Pyar Hogaya Pinky
2000 Raju Chacha Anna
2001 Kuch Khatti Kuch Meethi Tina/Sweety Khanna Double role
2001 Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham Anjali Sharma Raichand Winner, Filmfare Best Actress Award
2003 Kal Ho Naa Ho Special appearance in song Maahi Ve
2006 Fanaa Zooni Ali Beg Winner, Filmfare Best Actress Award
2006 Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna Special appearance in song Rock N Roll Soniye
2007 Om Shanti Om Special appearance in song Om Shanti Om
2007 U, Me Aur Hum Filming
No comments:
Post a Comment