The bubbly Rani Mukherji made her Bollywood debut with Raja Ki Aayegi Baraat in 1996 but it was good friend Karan Johar’s Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998) that drove her carriage to the zenith of stardom. Known to be an extremely affable person, Rani comes from a film family as her father Ram Mukherjee is a retired director while her mother Krishna used to be a playback singer.

Her next released in 1998 was Ghulam opposite Aamir Khan, another successful film, but as opposed to KKHH where Rani was seen as a slightly overweight actress Ghulam established her credentials as the ‘latest hot property’ in the film industry.

Subsequently she worked in quite a few good films, just that they failed to ear much money on the box office. Hey Ram went to the extent of being nominated as India’s official entry at the Oscars but super stardom eluded Rani for one reason or the other.

In 2002 Saathiya gave her the rave reviews that she always deserved and two years down the line came Black.

Standing up to Amitabh Bachchan is no mean feat for any actor, but outshining him when he is looking down to you in the same frame is a seemingly impossible task but Rani did it in the role inspired by the persona of the iconic Hellen Keller. Black stands out as a landmark film in the history of Indian cinema and it wouldn’t have been so without Rani’s power packed performance.

After that she has done notable films like Bunty Aur Bubbly, Kabhi Alvida Na Kehan, Paheli, Veer Zara, Yuva and Hum Tum. All these were hits and brought her a lot of name and fame but Rani still remains industry’s perennial under achiever.