Breakthrough and initial struggle (1998–2001) In 1998, Mukerji starred opposite
Aamir Khan in
Vikram Bhatt's action film
Ghulam, her first commercial success. Though her role in the film was brief, the song "
Aati Kya Khandala" earned her public recognition. Due to Mukerji's husky voice, Bhatt had someone with a higher pitched voice dub her lines; Mukerji stated that it was done as her voice "did not suit the character". In the same year,
Karan Johar cast her opposite
Shah Rukh Khan and
Kajol in his directorial debut
Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. The role was originally written for
Twinkle Khanna, but when she and several other leading ladies rejected it, Johar signed Mukerji on the insistence of Khan and the filmmaker
Aditya Chopra. She played Khan's character's love interest and later wife, Tina who dies after giving birth to their daughter. Johar had originally intended to dub Mukerji's voice, but she improved her diction and eventually provided her own voice. Reviewing the film for
India Today, Nandita Chowdhury wrote that it was "the gorgeous Rani who steals the show. Oozing oomph from every pore, she also proves herself an actress whose time has come".
Kuch Kuch Hota Hai proved a breakthrough for Mukerji; and won eight
Filmfare Awards, including
Best Supporting Actress for Mukerji. Following this, she had starring roles in
Mehndi (1998) and
Hello Brother (1999), critical and commercial disappointments that failed to propel her career forward. '' in 2001 By 2000, Mukerji wanted to avoid typecasting as a "standard Hindi film heroine" and thus decided to portray more challenging roles in addition to the archetypical glamorous lead. In
Badal and
Bichhoo, two male-centric action dramas (both starring
Bobby Deol), she played roles that were met with little acclaim from critics. A supporting role in
Kamal Haasan's bilingual film
Hey Ram proved more rewarding. The film was a partly fictionalised account of
Mahatma Gandhi's assassination and Mukerji played a Bengali school teacher who is raped and murdered during communal riots in Calcutta. Having only portrayed glamorous roles thus far, she was challenged by Haasan's insistence on realism and to appear on screen without wearing make-up; she believed that the experience changed her approach to acting. A critic of
Deccan Herald took note of her performance. After starring in the romantic comedies
Hadh Kar Di Aapne and
Kahin Pyaar Na Ho Jaaye, Mukerji starred alongside
Salman Khan and
Preity Zinta in the romantic comedy
Har Dil Jo Pyar Karega, which earned her second nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress nomination. Padmaraj Nair of
Screen found her role to be "too meagre for her to prove herself" but added that "she is quite adequate in whatever scenes she has been given". It was a moderate box-office success. Mukerji's first film of 2001,
Chori Chori Chupke Chupke, was released after controversy over the film's funding by the
Mumbai underworld delayed it by a few months. The film, based on
surrogacy, marked her second collaboration with Salman Khan and Zinta. Film critic
Sukanya Verma found Mukerji to be "handicapped with a role that doesn't give her much scope" and preferred the "meatier" role of Zinta. The film played well at the box office. In
Bas Itna Sa Khwaab Hai and
Nayak: The Real Hero, films that failed to gain a wide audience theatrically, Mukerji played the love interests of
Abhishek Bachchan and
Anil Kapoor respectively. In a review for the latter film, Sarita Tanwar of
Rediff.com bemoaned that she had "very little to do except being part of some magnificently picturised songs". She had an extended cameo in her final release that year,
Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham. An article in
Mint summarised that a majority of her roles post
Kuch Kuch Hota Hai were "inconsequential". a romantic comedy co-starring
Hrithik Roshan and
Kareena Kapoor, and
Saathiya, a remake of the
Tamil romance
Alaipayuthey. The former performed poorly at the box office, as did her two collaborations with
Govinda that year
Pyaar Diwana Hota Hai and
Chalo Ishq Ladaaye. The romantic drama
Saathiya, however, proved a turning point in her career. At the
48th Filmfare Awards, she received her first
Best Actress nomination and was awarded the
Critics Award for Best Actress (shared with
Manisha Koirala in
Company).
Shaad Ali cast her in the role of Suhani Sharma, a medical student who deals with the troubles of being married at a young age, for the vulnerability that he found in her. She refused the offer at first as she disliked the idea of remaking an accomplished film but was convinced to accept the part by the film's producer Aditya Chopra.
Saathiya emerged as a commercial success. and Udita Jhunjhunwala of
Mid-Day added that "her expressions and acting are understated in a role that fits her like a glove". '' in 2003 The year 2003 marked the beginning of the most successful period in Mukerji's career. She replaced
Aishwarya Rai to play the lead opposite Shah Rukh Khan in
Aziz Mirza's romance
Chalte Chalte. Media reports suggested that Rai was replaced after feuding with her then boyfriend Salman Khan on the film's sets, but Shah Rukh Khan insisted that Mukerji had been the original choice for the role. Mukerji believed that the theme of
Chalte Chalte, which dealt with misunderstandings between a married couple, was similar to that of
Saathiya, and she tried to lend variety to the role by putting "them against a different background". She has said that working with Shah Rukh Khan was a learning experience for her, and he would often scold her if she performed inadequately. None of her other releases of the year—
Chori Chori,
Calcutta Mail, and
LOC: Kargil—made a mark. At the
50th Filmfare Awards, Mukerji won both the Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress awards, becoming the only actress to win both awards in the same year. The Best Supporting Actress win was for
Mani Ratnam's
Yuva (2004), a
composite film with an ensemble cast, about three youngsters from different strata of society whose lives intersect by a car accident; Mukerji was cast as Shashi Biswas, a poor Bengali housewife who is abused by her husband, a local goon (Abhishek Bachchan). She based her role on her house helps who were abused by their husbands and observed their body language and speaking style. She won the Best Actress award for her starring role as Rhea Prakash in
Kunal Kohli's
Hum Tum (2004), a romantic comedy about two headstrong individuals who meet at different stages of their lives. The film pitted her opposite
Saif Ali Khan and proved one of the biggest commercial successes of the year.
The Hindu found Mukerji's portrayal of Rhea to be "self-assuredly competent" and Tanmaya Kumar Nanda of
Rediff.com wrote, "Rani is her usual collected self, changing into the many hues of her character with the ease of a chameleon". This success continued when
Yash Chopra cast her in his period romantic drama
Veer-Zaara (2004). Set against the background of
India–Pakistan relations, it is about the titular star-crossed lovers (Shah Rukh Khan and Preity Zinta). In a part originally written for a man, Mukerji played a Pakistani lawyer who tries to help the couple.
Veer-Zaara emerged as the highest-grossing Hindi film of the year, and it was later screened at the
Berlin International Film Festival. Derek Elley of
Variety took note of the "quietly dignified perf from Mukerji", and the BBC opined that she "deserves praise for her acting. To act through your eyes and not using dialogue is an art. Rani for one, has perfected this." She won the
IIFA Award for Best Supporting Actress, and received her fourth nomination in the same category at Filmfare. Once Bhansali enforced his faith in her, she agreed and began studying sign language with professionals at the
Helen Keller Institute in Mumbai.
Black won several awards including two
National Film Awards and 11 Filmfare Awards, and
Richard Corliss of
Time featured it as the fifth best film of the year.
Empire magazine called Mukerji's performance "astonishing", and
Filmfare included her work in their listing of Indian cinema's "80 Most Iconic performances" and wrote, "Rani has left an indelible mark with this role that usually comes once in a lifetime for most". She became the only actress to win both the Best Actress and Best Actress – Critics trophies at the Filmfare Awards ceremony. The film was the second highest-grossing Hindi film of 2005.
Namrata Joshi of
Outlook wrote that she "plays to the gallery with ease". Mukerji followed it with
Amol Palekar's fantasy film
Paheli, reuniting her with Shah Rukh Khan. The film was a box office flop in India but was given a strong international release; Raja Sen of
Rediff.com was impressed by the film as well as Mukerji's performance which he called "another perfectly played part". Mukerji's final release of the year was the period film
Mangal Pandey: The Rising, about the
titular soldier. Director
Ketan Mehta initially approached her for a cameo appearance, which was developed into a larger part during filming. Her role was that of Heera, a prostitute who becomes the love interest of Pandey (Aamir Khan). Derek Elley mentioned that despite a small role, Mukerji made "the most of her feisty nautch-girl". Mukerji turned down an offer from
Mira Nair to star in the English film
The Namesake, choosing instead to reteam with Karan Johar in
Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006), a drama about infidelity. Collaborating once again with Shah Rukh Khan, Abhishek Bachchan and Zinta, she played an unhappily married woman who has an affair with a married man. Commenting on the divisive nature of her role, Mukerji said that it changed her own perception of love and marriage.
Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna was a popular release, earning over to emerge as the highest-grossing Hindi film in overseas to that point. It won Mukerji a third consecutive
IIFA Award for Best Actress and a sixth Best Actress nomination at Filmfare.
Professional setback (2007–2009) Following the failure of
Baabul, Yash Raj Films cast Mukerji in
Siddharth Anand's family drama
Ta Ra Rum Pum in the role of a racing driver's (Saif Ali Khan) wife and the mother of two. She was excited to play the part of a mother for the first time, and modelled her character after her own mother. Released in 2007, the film was a financial success, but received mixed reactions from critics.
Khalid Mohamed hailed Mukerji's performance as "near flawless" but Rajeev Masand thought that neither she nor Khan "are able to make much of an impression because their characters are so unidimensional and boring." The drama
Laaga Chunari Mein Daag from director
Pradeep Sarkar starred Mukerji as a young woman who is forced to moonlight as a prostitute to fend for her family. Her portrayal earned her a seventh Best Actress nomination at Filmfare,
Shubhra Gupta of
The Indian Express noted that Mukerji was responsible for "hold[ing] the film together, even if her part, both as the ingénue and the hooker, doesn't have freshness". '' in 2009 Mukerji once again played a prostitute in Bhansali's
Saawariya, an adaptation of
Fyodor Dostoevsky's
White Nights, co-starring
Ranbir Kapoor and
Sonam Kapoor. She insisted that the consecutive prostitutes she played were different from each other, with the one in
Saawariya having "no problem with her profession". Her only release in three years not produced by Yash Raj Films, it was the first Indian film produced by a Hollywood studio,
Sony Pictures. The film was a box office flop and met with poor reactions from critics. Mukerji's performance, which was described by
A. O. Scott of
The New York Times as "divine", earned her a second Filmfare nomination that year, this time for Best Supporting Actress, her fifth in the category. By the end of 2007, Mukerji's popularity had begun to wane.
Rediff.com attributed this to her "monotonous pairing" with the same set of actors;
Hindustan Times published that she had become an "exclusive Yash Raj heroine" which hindered other filmmakers from approaching her. After a series of dramatic parts, Mukerji sought to play a light-hearted part, which she found in Kunal Kohli's
Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic (2008), a children's film about an angel who comes to Earth to help four troubled kids. In a scathing review, Khalid Mohamed criticised Mukerji's choice of roles and wrote that "she's one-dimensional, either darting full blast smiles or tetchy scowls. Her costumes, too, are uneasy-on-the-eyes". The film had low box office returns and further contributed to a decline in Mukerji's career prospects. An
India Today article spoke of her "running out of luck at the box office" and mentioned her decline in endorsements. In an attempt to overcome this decline, Mukerji lost weight and underwent a makeover. She continued to collaborate with Yash Raj Films, taking on a starring role opposite
Shahid Kapoor in the romantic comedy
Dil Bole Hadippa! (2009). Mukerji had high expectations from the film in which she played a cricket-obsessed Punjabi village girl masquerading as a man, and it had its world premiere at the
Toronto International Film Festival.
The Economic Times critic Gaurav Malani was disappointed with the picture and wrote that Mukerji "comes up with a spirited performance but her mock sob-whine-whimper do not amuse anymore. Also after a point you dislike visualizing the charming actress as the moustached male player". The film was Mukerji's fourth financial failure in a row. When questioned about her recent spate of flops with the Yash Raj Films banner, she defended the collaborations, saying that "I stand by those films regardless of their fate". Later that year, she featured as a talent judge for the
Sony Entertainment Television reality show
Dance Premier League. She agreed to appear on television to gain visibility during a low phase in her film career.
Success in thrillers and Hichki (2010–2019) '' in 2012 Aniruddha Guha of
Daily News and Analysis described Mukerji's performance in the 2011 film
No One Killed Jessica as "one of her best performances till date". Co-starring
Vidya Balan, the film was Mukerji's first commercial success since
Ta Ra Rum Pum, and was especially noted for being so in the absence of a male star. Based on the
Jessica Lal murder case, it featured Mukerji as a fictionalised foul-mouthed journalist who is deeply involved with the case. She has described how different the role was from the ones she had previously played, saying, "I actually had to play a man!" Certain critics, however, were critical of her performance, including
Anupama Chopra, who called her role "the fatal, false note", arguing that "the character is written superficially and Rani's portrayal of her is equally banal. It's all about externals. She argues a lot and proudly labels herself a bitch, but her hair stays perfectly in place and in the end, she even gets to do a super-hero-like slow motion walk." Even so, the role earned her a third Best Supporting Actress trophy at Filmfare. Mukerji next accepted a leading role in the
comedy of manners Aiyyaa (2012). Under the direction of
Sachin Kundalkar, she played a woman with a heightened sense of smell who develops a one-sided attraction towards
Prithviraj Sukumaran's character. Critically and commercially unsuccessful,
Rediff.com criticised her decision to star in the film, writing that she "gets no support from the way her character is written". Greater success came for her portrayal of Roshni Shekhawat, a mother grieving the death of her child, in
Reema Kagti's psychological thriller
Talaash: The Answer Lies Within. Co-starring Aamir Khan and Kareena Kapoor, the film had worldwide earnings of over to emerge as the year's eighth highest-grossing Hindi film. Ronnie Schieb of
Variety described Mukerji as "vivid in a quietly sympathetic role", and she received her seventh nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress. In 2013, Mukerji starred in the
anthology film Bombay Talkies consisting of four short films. She was part of the segment helmed by Johar, in which she played a journalist who discovers that her husband (
Randeep Hooda) is gay. The film was screened at the
2013 Cannes Film Festival. Despite poor box office returns,
Bombay Talkies met with critical acclaim, particularly for Johar's segment; Tushar Joshi of
Daily News and Analysis praised the subtlety in Mukerji's performance. The following year, Mukerji starred in Pradeep Sarkar's crime thriller
Mardaani, in which she played the lead role of Shivani Shivaji Roy, a
Marathi policewoman involved in a kidnapping case that leads her to uncover secrets of
human trafficking. She took on the role to show girls "how they need to protect themselves". In preparation, she interacted with senior officials of
Mumbai Police, and learned the Israeli self-defence technique of
Krav Maga. Rajeev Masand credited Mukerji for "investing Shivani with both physical strength and emotional courage, she gives us a hero that's hard not to root for", and Anupama Chopra commended her for providing her character with both "steely resolve" and "emotional depth". The film was a commercial success and garnered Mukerji her eighth nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress. '' in 2019 Following the birth of her child, Mukerji took a four-year hiatus to focus on her daughter and was persuaded by her husband, Aditya Chopra, to return to acting. She was keen to work on a project that would accommodate her parental commitments and found it in the comedy-drama
Hichki (2018). Inspired by
Brad Cohen's autobiography
Front of the Class, the film tells the story of Naina Mathur, an aspiring teacher suffering from
Tourette syndrome who must prove herself by educating underprivileged children. Mukerji interacted with Cohen and she trained to make her character's motor and vocal
tics appear spontaneous and not rehearsed. It earned worldwide, a majority of which came from the Chinese box office, and its success led Mukerji to express an interest in working more frequently in the future. She received her ninth nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress. Mukerji reprised her role as Shivani Shivaji Roy in
Mardaani 2 (2019), directed by Gopi Puthran, who wrote the first film. In it, Roy faces off against a young rapist (
Vishal Jethwa).
The Indian Express wrote that Mukerji is "in command right through as she works to a script which pushes her to the fore at every given chance", but Rahul Desai of
Film Companion criticised her for overplaying Roy "as more of a
Dhoom franchise character" than a cop.
Mardaani 2 performed well at the box office and received her tenth nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress.
Intermittent work (2020–present) In 2021, Mukerji reprised her role in
Bunty Aur Babli 2, a
spiritual successor to her 2005 film
Bunty Aur Babli 2 where she co-starred opposite
Saif Ali Khan. The film received negative reviews from critics, and was a commercial faliure, though Mukerji's performance and comic-timing received praise. She next appeared in the legal drama
Mrs. Chatterjee vs Norway, based on the real-life story of a Bengali immigrant couple whose children were taken away by the
Norwegian Child Welfare Services. It marked her first project in a decade not to be produced by
Yash Raj Films. She based her character's diction and mannerisms on her own mother. The film was mostly received poorly by critics, who found Mukerji overly melodramatic, although some reviewers noted her growing impetus in latter portions. Reviewing the film for
Screen Daily, Namrata Joshi dismissed its melodramatic tone, adding that "most disappointing is an otherwise reliable Mukherji being far from effective in her shrill and showy turn". Still, the film emerged as a
sleeper hit and earned Mukerji multiple accolades, including her third
Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress (shared with
Shefali Shah for
Three of Us), her fourth
IIFA Award for Best Actress, her first
National Film Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, in addition to her eleventh nomination for the
Filmfare Award for Best Actress. Mukerji reprised her role as Shivani Shivaji Roy in the crime-thriller
Mardaani 3. The film received great response from the audience relative to its previous instalments and became the higher grosser compared to the previous installments, also declared a success at the box office. Dhaval Roy of
The Times of India concluded that "
Mardaani 3 isn't without flaws, but it still holds as a solid franchise outing anchored by Rani Mukerji's performance". She will next reunite with
Shah Rukh Khan for the action-thriller
King directed by
Siddharth Anand. == Personal life ==