Kajol Devgan (born 5 August 1974), known mononymously as Kajol, is an Indian film actress who predominantly works in Hindi cinema. She has received six Filmfare Awards from eleven nominations, and along with her late aunt Nutan, holds the record for most Best Actress wins at Filmfare, with five. In 2011, theGovernment of India awarded her with the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award of the country.
Born to actress Tanuja and film director Shomu Mukherjee, Kajol made her acting debut with Bekhudi (1992) while still in school. She quit her studies to pursue acting, and had her first commercial success with the 1993 thriller Baazigar. She subsequently earned wide public recognition for playing leading roles in several blockbuster family dramas, including Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (1995), Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998), and Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... (2001). She earned critical appreciation for playing against type in the 1997 mystery film Gupt and the 1998 psychological thriller Dushman. Following a sabbatical from full-time acting in 2001, Kajol returned to film with the 2006 romantic thriller, Fanaa. She continued working infrequently through the rest of the decade, and earned critical acclaim for her work in U Me Aur Hum (2008) and My Name Is Khan (2010). She, thus, established herself as one of India's most successful female actors.
Kajol is a social activist and is noted for her work with widows and children, for which she received the Karmaveer Puraskaar in 2008. She has featured as a talent judge forZee TV's reality show, Rock-N-Roll Family (2008) and holds a managerial position at Devgn Entertainment and Software. Kajol has been in a relationship with actor Ajay Devgn since 1995. In 1999, they married, and she gave birth to their daughter, Nysa, in 2003 and their son, Yug, in 2010.
Early life and background:
Bekhudi, which released in 1992, turned out to be a commercial failure.[ However, her performance in the film was noticed and she was signed for Baazigar (1993), a thriller by Abbas-Mustan, which emerged as a major commercial success.[4] The film, which also starred Shahrukh Khan, Shilpa Shetty and Siddharth Ray, saw her portray the leading role of Priya Chopra, a girl who falls in love with her sister's killer. The film marked the first of her many collaborations with Khan.
In 1994, Kajol featured in the melodrama Udhaar Ki Zindagi, as the granddaughter of the character played by Jeetendra. The film, which was a remake of the Telugu film, Seetharamaiah Gari Manavaralu, failed to do well at the box-office. She subsequently starred and earned public recognition with Yash Raj Films's hit romantic drama Yeh Dillagi, alongside Akshay Kumar and Saif Ali Khan. The film, which was an unofficial remake of the Hollywood film Sabrina, narrated the story of a chauffeur's daughter who aspires to become a model. Her performance in the film fetched Kajol her first Best Actress nomination at the annual Filmfare Awards.
In 1995, Kajol starred in two major commercial successes, Rakesh Roshan's Karan Arjun and Aditya Chopra's Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, both opposite Shahrukh Khan. The former was a melodramatic thriller, based on the concept of reincarnation, in which she played Sonia Saxena, a supporting character who forms the love interest of Khan. The film eventually emerged as the second-highest grossing film of the year in India. She justified playing a minor role in the film by saying, "I did Karan Arjun because I wanted to know how it feels to be an ornament. I had nothing to do in the film except look good".
Her other release, Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, was not only the biggest commercial success of 1995, but also one of the most successful films of all time in India. The film, which earned a worldwide gross of 
123 crore (US$21 million) at the time of release, has been continuously running in Mumbai ever since. Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge was also a major critical success; it won ten Filmfare Awards, and Kajol's performance as Simran Singh, a young Non-resident Indian from London who falls for Shahrukh Khan's character was praised, earning her a first Filmfare Award for Best Actress. In 2005, Indiatimes Movies ranked the movie amongst the 25 Must See Bollywood Films, citing it as a "trendsetter of sorts". In that same year's retrospective review by Rediff, Raja Sen stated that Kajol was "wisely picked ... to play Simran, the real-as-life actress bringing warmth and credulity to the initially prudish and reluctant Simran. Not to mention the on-screen chemistry that has become the stuff of legend." in 1995, she also acted opposite Ajay Devgn in two commercially unsuccessful films, Hulchul and Gundaraj. In 1996, Kajol starred in the action drama Bambai Ka Babu, opposite Saif Ali Khan, which emerged as a critical and commercial disaster.
123 crore (US$21 million) at the time of release, has been continuously running in Mumbai ever since. Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge was also a major critical success; it won ten Filmfare Awards, and Kajol's performance as Simran Singh, a young Non-resident Indian from London who falls for Shahrukh Khan's character was praised, earning her a first Filmfare Award for Best Actress. In 2005, Indiatimes Movies ranked the movie amongst the 25 Must See Bollywood Films, citing it as a "trendsetter of sorts". In that same year's retrospective review by Rediff, Raja Sen stated that Kajol was "wisely picked ... to play Simran, the real-as-life actress bringing warmth and credulity to the initially prudish and reluctant Simran. Not to mention the on-screen chemistry that has become the stuff of legend." in 1995, she also acted opposite Ajay Devgn in two commercially unsuccessful films, Hulchul and Gundaraj. In 1996, Kajol starred in the action drama Bambai Ka Babu, opposite Saif Ali Khan, which emerged as a critical and commercial disaster.
Personal life:
Kajol began dating fellow actor, Ajay Devgn, in 1994, while filming for Gundaraj. Members of the media, however, labelled them as an "unlikely pair" due to their contrasting personalities. Devgn explained their relationship by saying, "We never resorted to the usual 'I Love you' routine. A proposal never happened. We grew with each other. Marriage was never discussed, but it was always imminent". They subsequently got married on 24 February 1999 in a traditional Maharashtrian style ceremony at the Devgn house. The wedding was subject to wide media scrutiny, as certain members of the media criticised Kajol's decision to settle down at the "peak of her career". Kajol, however, maintained that she would not quit films, but would cut down on the amount of work that she did.
Following her marriage, Kajol moved in with Devgn and his parents at the latter's ancestral house in Juhu. While media members speculated about a lack of compatibility between her in-laws and her, Kajol clarified that they were "like parents to me" and encouraged her to continue working in films. Tabloids have often romantically linked Devgn with other Bollywood actresses, and have reported about an imminent divorce. Refuting the rumours, Kajol stated, "I don't believe in those rumours because I know the way this industry functions. [...] You cannot continue a marriage without the basic trust. Frankly, I don't care for such talk."
In 2001, Kajol was pregnant with her first child. However, due to an ectopic pregnancy, she suffered from a miscarriage. On 20 April 2003, Kajol gave birth to a daughter, Nysa. Seven years later, on 13 September 2010, she gave birth to a son, Yug. She described motherhood as "fab" and added that her kids brought out "the best in her".
Born: August 5, 1974 (age 39), Mumbai, India
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