Rani Mukherjee is one of the most charming, gorgeous and elegant film actresses in Hindi cinema. Born on March 21, 1978, she has captured millions of hearts with her smile and acting prowess. Hailing from a Bengali origin, her father Ram Mukherjee is a retired director and one of the founders of Filmalaya Studios. Her mother Krishna was a playback singer. Her brother Raja Mukherjee is a producer turned director. Award winning Bengali actress Debashree Roy is her maternal aunt. Bollywood fame Kajol and Wake Up Sid director Ayan Mukherji happens to be her cousins. Rani was educated at the Maneckji Cooper High Schooland later was admitted at Mithibai College in Mumbai.

Rani Mukherjee`s Film Career
While in school at the age of 14, Rani Mukerjee did a cameo role in the Bengali film "Biyer Phool" in the year 1992. As an adult, Rani made her debut with the movie, `Raja Ki Aayegi Baraat` in 1996. Rani Mukerjee`s later release in 1998 was `Ghulam` opposite Aamir Khan, which did very well at the box office. Her biggest commercial success came with the movie, `Kuch Kuch Hota Hai` in 1998 directed by Karan Johar. She starred opposite to Sharukh Khan and Kajol in that movie. Later she acted in films like Badal (2000) with Bobby Deol, Chori Chori Chupke Chupke (2001) alongside Salman Khan and Preity Zinta and Mujhse Dosti Karoge (2002) opoosite Hritik Roshan and Kareena Kapoor.

Rani Mukherjee spread her magic with `Saathiya` in the year 2002, which was commercially and critically successful in the box-office. In 2003, she starred opposite Shahrukh Khan in the movie, `Chalte Chalte` which was a hit. In 2004, she gave a memorable performance in Kunal Kohli`s `Hum Tum` opposite Saif Ali Khan with the movie becoming the biggest hit of the year. In the same year she appeared in `Yuva` where her performance was critically acclaimed. Her last movie of that year was Veer-Zara with Shahrukh Khan and Preity Zinta which again was a smashing hit. Her intense performance in the movie Black in the year 2005 with Amitabh Bacchan, was a path-breaking performance where she portrayed a deaf and a blind girl. She received various nominations for her acclaimed performance in the Best Actress category at all award ceremonies. She had other major releases in the same year such as Bunty Aur Babli, Paheli and Mangal Pandey: The Rising. Rani featured in many other movies like Babul (2006), Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna (2006), Ta Ra Rum Pum (2007), Laaga Chunari Mein Daag (2008), Saawariya (2008), Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic (2008), Dil Bole Hadippa!( 2009). Her latest film No One Killed Jessica in the year 2011 again was a hit at the box office.

Rani Mukerjee has been a stage performer and has participated in two world tours. Her first world tour was in the year 1999 with Aamir Khan, Aishwarya Rai, Akshaye Khanna and Twinkle Khanna. It was called the Magnificent Five. Five years later, Temptations 2004 came along. It was the most successful Bollywood concert in its time. She performed alongside Shahrukh Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Preity Zinta, Arjun Rampal and Priyanka Chopra in nineteen stage shows across the world. In the year 2005 she was also honoured by the invitation of being the Guest of Honour at a state dinner to welcome and greet Pervez Musharraf in company of the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. She also appeared along with a host of other Bollywood celebrities at the Closing Ceremony of 2006 Commonwealth Games in the Australian city of Melbourne. She also enthralled the small screen audiences by her appearance on a reality show Amul Star Voice of India. The contestants in turn delighted her by performing to a medley of songs of her movies.

Awards and Honours to Rani Mukherjee
Rani earned her first Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award for the movie Kuch Kuch Hota Hai in 1998. In 2002 she won the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Performance for the movie Saathiya. The Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award was awarded to her in 2004 for Yuva and in the same year she also won the Filmfare Best Actress Award for Hum Tum. For her spectacular performance in Black she got the Filmfare Best Actress Award & Filmfare Critics Award for Best Performance, making her the first actress to win two major awards in the same year