Kajol

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Kajol daughter of Shomu Mukherjee and Tanuja, a descent of a Bengali-Marathi parents. Her mother is an actress while her father was a film director/film maker. He passed away in 2008 after a cardiac arrest. Kajol's younger sister Tanishaa is an actress too while her maternal Aunt Nutan and maternal grandmother Shobhna Samarth and her great grand mother Rattan Bai were all great actresses of their times and very involved in the Hindi Cinema. Her paternal uncles Joy Mukherjee and Deb Mukherjee are also film producers while her paternal grandfather Sashadhar Mukherjee was a film maker too.. Kajol's cousins Rani Mukerji, Sahrbani Mukherjee and Mohnish Behl are all Bollywood Actors where as her youngest cousin Ayan Mukerji is a Director. Kajol we believe was extremely mischievous as a child, stubborn and impulsive. Her parents separated when she was young. She was not affected by the split. In the absence of her mother during the parents separation, Kajol was looked after by her grandmother who never made her feel that she was away from her own mother. Kajol in one of her interviews mentioned that her mother inculcated the sense of independence in her at a very young age. Growing up between two cultures , she inherited her Maharashtrian Pragmatism from her Mother and her Bengali Temperament from her father. Kajol studied at the St. Joseph's Convent boarding school in Panchgani. Apart from her studies she participated in extra-curricular activities such as dancing. It was in the school that she began to form an active interest in reading fictions that helped her through the bad moments in her life. . At the age of sixteen she had she began work on Rahul Rawail's film ' Behudi' which didn't do well . Initially intended to return to school after shooting for the film during her summer vacations. . However she dropped out of school to pursue a full time career in films and did not complete her education. Kajol made her acting debut with the unsuccessful film while she was in school but she had her first commercial success with the thrilled ' 'Bazigar' and she subsequently rose to prominence by playing lead romantic roles thereafter. Subsequently she got married on 24th February 1999 in a traditional Maharashtrian style ceremony at the Devgan House. The wedding was subject to wide media scrutiny as she the media criticized Kajol's decision to settle down at the peak or her film career. Following her marriage , Kajol moved in with Devgan and his parents at the latter's ancestral house in Juhu. While media speculated about a lack of compatibility between her and her in-laws, kajol had clarified that they were like a set of parents to her and have always encouraged her to continue working in films. In 2001, Kajol was pregnant with her first child . However due to ectopic pregnancy she suffered a miscarriage. On 20th April 2003, she gave birth to her daughter Nysa and seven years later on 13th September 2010, she gave birth to a son Yug. She described her motherhood as ' Fab' as that has added the best in her life. Since she had plans to start a family with Ajay Devgn , she had taken a sabbatical from a full time acting in 2001 and returned to films with 2006 romantic thriller Fanaa and continues to work infrequently thereafter. She thus established herself as one of India's most successful actress and has to her credit some of the major block buster films. She is the recipient of numerous accolades.

Kajol with Mandira Bedi launched the Women's Wellness Event in 2016. Kajol has been actively involved in several philanthropic endeavors related to Women and Children . According to her, Every Child deserves education . She was awarded the Karmaveer Puraskar for her contribution in the field of Social Service. Kajol is motivated and involved with the NGO Shiksha in the field of children's education. In 2009 she launched the Shiksha Campaign to support the cause. In 2011, she participated in the Fashion Show organized in the aid of the Cancer Patients Aid Association to generate funds for the Organization. Kajol is the International Goodwill Ambassador and Patron of The Loomba Trust , a Charity Organization devoted to supporting widows and their children around the world particularly in India. In 2012, Kajol was appointed as the Brand Ambassador for Pratham , a charity Organization for Children. In April she featured in short film about education and literacy with the children of Hanuman Basti Primary School in Mumbai.

Kajol made her acting debut at the age of seventeen in the year 1992 for a romantic drama called the ' Bekhudi' opposite to Kamal Sadanah . Her mother Tanuja who is also in the film played her mother's role. Although the film turned out to be a Box-office flop, Kajol's performance was noticed and she signed a Romantic Thriller film 'Bazigar' in 1993 by Abbas Mustan which emerged as a major commercial success , inspired by the English film, A kiss before Dying. She co-starred with ShahRukh Khan and thereafter did many films in collaboration with Shahrukh Khan. In 1994, Kajol featured in the melodrama film Udhaar Ki Zindagi as the granddaughter of Jeetendra and Moushumi. The film was a remake of a Telegu film and failed to do well at the Box office. Though Kajol's role was and performance received praise and she subsequently won the BFJA Award for Best Actress. She earned public recognition with Yash Raj Films and each of her films were super hits , whether it was Yeh Dillagi opposite to Akshay Kumar and Saif Ali. The success of this film proved a breakthrough for Kajol and her performance in the film fetched her the first Best Actress nomination at the Annual Filmfare Awards and there after she climbed the ladder of success. She rose to prominence by playing the lead female roles in several romantic films including Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (DDLJ) in 1995, The film eventually emerged as the second highest grossing film of the year.In 1988, Pyar To Hona Hi Tha in 1993, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai in 1998, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham in 2001 . Kajol earned critical acclaim for playing her double role in the film Gupt and psychological thriller Dushman. In 1995, Kajol also starred in two major commercial blockbuster and successful films, Rakesh Roshan's Karan Arjun Kajol,s next three releases Taaqat, Hulchul and Gundaraj failed to do well commercially and the latter two were opposite to her future husband Ajay Devgn. Kajol's firth and final release that year DDLJ was not only the biggest commercial successful film but also one of the highest grossing films of all times in India. The film earned a worldwide gross of 1.23 billion Rs. at the time of its release and has been continuously running in Mumbai theatres ever since. It won her ten Filmfare Awards and her performance as the foreign returned Simran from London was praised and was considered as a trendsetter of sorts. Not to mention Shahrukh Khan and Kajol's on screen chemistry that had become a stuff of the legend. In 1996 she played a role opposite to Saif Ali Khan for the film Bambai ka Babu which failed miserably and was a commercial disaster. Kajol's matured role in the film Hum Aapke Dil Mein Rehte Hain emerged as a critical and commercial success, starring with Anil Kapoor for which she received another Best Actress nomination at the filmfare ceremony . She did several films in this period and established herself as a leading actress of contemporary Hindi Cinema by featuring in three of the top grossing productions in the year 1998. Kajol starred opposite to her husband Ajay Devgn in a romantic film remake of the film ' French Kiss .and won the nomination for Best Actress at the Filmfare Awards night for her role in the film, ' Pyar to Hona Hi Tha. While she was giving films that were hit one after another , she emerged as the female superstar for her role in the multi star block buster, ' Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and ' Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, both these films won the worldwide Rs. 1 billion . Kajol is listed as on the top of Indian Cinema for ' 80 most Iconic performances, for the films that are few woman-centered films to emerge as a commercial success in India. Following the success of Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, Kajol took a sabbatical from full time acting and was selective in her roles and her decision to do so was to start a family and concentrate on her children. Kajol returned in 2006 and said she had never retired and had only taken a break for a few years.. Her film ' Fanaa' was her comeback and the film emerged as a major box-office success with worldwide grossing over a Billion Rupee the film in which she portrays of a blind girl. Kajol still has the ability to light up the screen with ease , making each of her roles stand out that leaves her audience asking for more and continue to give her the title of a leading lady in the Indian Film Cinema. In 2010 her much acclaimed role in My Name is Khan won her the fifth Filmfare Awards in the Best Actress Category. And the film that followed was her starrer in U Me Aur Hum as a woman suffering from Alzheimer's disease, opposite to Ajay Devgn, her participation in this project earned her positive critical reviews and the review said that Kajol completely comes into her own here as a superb actress for which she won the nomination for the Best Actress. Her film , My Name is Khan opposite to Shahrukh Khan a film based on the counter-terrorism drama on the ethnic profiling and discrimination faced by American Muslims post 9/11. got her highly positive reviews and the film emerged as an International success with a worldwide gross of Rs.2 billion . Kajol in the film as Mandira tops her performance with a powerful breakdown scene that literally puts her through the wringer. Kajol won her fifth Best Actress Award at the Filmfare Awards, thereafter sharing the record of the most Best Actress Wins with her deceased Aunt Nutan. Her role as the cancer patient and a mother of two children in the film We are Family an official adoption of the Hollywood film , Stepmom . Yet the pathos here is produced not from the moments, but from the performances alone a stunning Kajol's role in the film is considered superior in comparison to Susan Sarandon of the original film Stepmom, Though the film was well appreciated and gained popularity, the film was critical and commercial failure and Kajol received negative reviews for playing that role that provided her no scope to perform unlike her earlier films which gave her the fame, name and stability to be on the Top in the film industry. After portraying leading roles in a series of family drama, Kajol showed versatility as an actress and subsequently got noted in the Media for her unconventional approach in selecting projects. Her acting style is described as being Natural.