Kajol was born on August 5th, 1975 in Mumbai, India to Tanuja, a Marathi/Hindi actress and Shomu Mukherjee a film producer. 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. 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 Monish Behl are also Bollywood actors. Kajol’s younger sister Tanisha Mukherjee has recently started a film 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.
