Rani Mukherjee

Rani Mukherjee was born on March 21, 1978, in West Bengal, India. Her father, Ram, is a movie director, and other members of her extended family are also successful actors and actresses in the Indian film industry, including her cousin Kajol, another of the country's top actresses. She moved from Juhu to India's film capital, Mumbai, shortly after graduating from Maneckjee Cooper High School, to break into Bollywood cinema.

Rani Mukherjee made her debut in the Bengali film Biyer Phool before landing the part of Mala in her first Hindi-language movie, Raja Ki Aayegi Baraat, in 1996. It wasn't until her next big-screen appearance as Alisha in 1998's Ghulam that critics began taking notice of the newcomer's acting talent. Her follow-up role of Tina Malhotra in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai established her as India's newest star, and she won the Filmfare award for best supporting actress in 1998.

The huge success of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai made Rani Mukherjee a major Bollywood commodity, and she was promptly signed to appear in no less than 22 movies. Although she had achieved stardom in a relatively short period of time, many of those subsequent features did little to advance her career as a serious actress. Notable exceptions include Hey Ram (2000), which went on to become India's official entry for Oscar consideration, Har Dil Jo Pyar Karega (2000) for which she received a second Filmfare nod for best supporting actress, Chori Chori Chupke Chupke (2001), and Saathiya (2002), which earned her the Filmfare Critics Award for best performance and the Rajiv Gandhi Award.