Kajol Mukherjee (Devgan)
Acting runs in her blood and her natural bent for acting is well reflected in the ease with which she plays variety of roles. Yes, we are talking about Kajol, daughter of Tanuja and Shomu Mukherjee. Be it her maternal aunt Nutan Behl or her maternal grandmother Shobhna Samarth and maternal great grandmother Rattan Bai, they wee all yesteryears movie stars. Kajol’s younger sister Tanisha has also joined the industry and has films like ‘Niel and Nikki’, ‘Sarkar’, etc to her credit.
Kajol was born on 5th August 1974 in Mumbai and has a happy and comfortable childhood. She debuted with the film ‘Bekhudi’ in 1992 which was a box office disaster. The came her film ‘Baazigar’ with Shahrukh Khan and the industry started talking about this not-so-glamorous girl who seemed to have acting potentials. Her next flick ‘Udhar Ki Zindagi’ truly brought out her flair for acting. In 1998 she again had a hit with Shahrukh Khan in ‘Kara Arjun’.
Kajol was best paired on-screen with actor Shah Rukh Khan and both make a magical romantic pair. In fact, each of her five movies with him (Baazigar, Karan Arjun, Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, and Kabhi Khushie Kabhi Gham) have all gone on to become super-hits and blockbusters. She has appeared with her husband Ajay Devgan in movies like ‘Hulchul’, ‘Gundaraj’, ‘Raju Chacha’,,, ‘Ishq’ and ‘Pyar to Hona Hi Tha’ among which the last two were commercially successful.
In her short filmi career, Kajol has got rave reviews along with a lot of awards. The latter includes Filmfare Best Actress Award for ‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’ (1995), Filmfare Best Villain Award and Zee Cine Award Best Actor in a Negative Role for ‘Gupt‘ (1997), Filmfare Best Actress Award and Zee Cine Award Best Actor- Female for ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai ‘ (1998), Star Screen Award Best Actress for Dushman (1998), Filmfare Best Actress Award and Star Screen Award Best Actress for ‘Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham’ (2001), Zee Cine Special Award for Outstanding Performance- Female for ‘Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham’ (2001).
Her marriage to Ajay Devgan in February 24, 1999 was a quiet affair where only a few close friends and relatives were invited. The newly wed couple went on a two month honeymoon traveling the world visiting such places as Sydney & Cairo. The couple has carried off their marriage well and compliment each other perfectly as Kajol is known for a bubbly, cheerful and extrovert nature and Ajay is shy, serious and introvert. Post marriage Kajol has cut down the number of movies to spend more time with her family. She had a miscarriage but was blessed with a baby girl in 2003 whom she named Nyasa.
The films which were released after the marriage include ‘Raju Chacha’ (2000), ‘Kuch Khatti Kuch Meethi’ (2001), Karan Johar’s ‘Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham’ (2001) and ‘Kal Ho Na Ho’ (2003). She gave a brilliant performance in ‘Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham’. After this movie, she stayed away from the film industry for a while. In 2006, she came back enacting the role of a blind Kashmiri girl with Aamir Khan in Kunal Kohli’s ‘Fanaa‘ which again showed that the journey is not over for this talented gem of Bollywood.
Kajol