The Queen of 2000s Bollywood

Rani Mukerji, Bollywood actress famous for her roles in romantic 90s like Kuch Kuch Hota hai and the thrillers of 2010s like Talaash and No one killed Jessica, was born today in 1978.

The diva - Rani Mukherji; Source: Public Domain

A lot of people must have heard her name - for she has been acting in Bollywood ever since the 1990s. Born on the 21st of March, 1978, this was Rani Mukherji - one of the most popular actresses of the 2000s, she has been onscreen ever since then.

She was born in Calcutta into a family of film producers and directors, but Mukherji herself initially did not want to pursue Bollywood. In her own words - "There were already too many actresses at home and I wanted to be someone different".

However, she experimented with acting by the age of 18 in the Bengali film Biyer Phool in 1996, acting as the sister of the protagonist. Her parents encouraged her to keep practising in the field of acting, and she would continue to become well-liked for her performances, although the movies were a commercial failure.

As with every other star, her story had a breakthrough moment as well - this was Kuch Kuch Hota Hai in 1998. This role landed her in the top positions at Bollywood and elsewhere - for the film became 1998’s top-grossing Hindi Film.

Starring opposite Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol, her voice was somewhat concerning, and the director even considered dubbing over her voice, but she came through and improved her diction suiting the role.

Since she did not want to stay stereotyped as a typical Bollywood heroine (her words), she would experiment with numerous different roles, all of which were mildly successful. Her immensely successful period began in the mid-2000s, wherein films after films like Bunty Aur Babli, Paheli, Mangal Pandey, Chalte Chalte - all would become hits.

Since then, she has found her niche - Hindi thrillers! No one Killed Jessica, Mardaani, Talaash all would become runaway hits, continuing a career which many had written off in the late 2000s.