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Kajol Biography: Bollywood’s Enduring Leading Lady, From DDLJ to Maa

Daniel Reed
Kajol headshot portrait at the Vogue Beauty Awards 2012

Kajol is an Indian actress whose career has spanned more than three decades, from her schoolgirl debut in Bekhudi (1992) to the mythological horror film Maa (2025). Best known as Simran in Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge and Anjali in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, she has won six Filmfare Awards, received the Padma Shri in 2011, and remains one of Hindi cinema’s most recognisable leading ladies.

Quick facts

  • Full name: Kajol Mukherjee Devgan (née Mukherjee)
  • Born: 5 August 1974, Bombay (now Mumbai), Maharashtra, India
  • Nationality: Indian
  • Occupation: Actress
  • Known for: Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, My Name Is Khan, Maa
  • Spouse: Ajay Devgn (married 24 February 1999)
  • Children: Nysa (born 2003) and Yug (born 2010)

Early life and background

Kajol was born in Bombay on 5 August 1974 into one of Hindi cinema’s great film families. Her mother, Tanuja, is an actress; her father, Shomu Mukherjee, was a film director and producer; her maternal aunt was the celebrated actress Nutan, and her grandmother Shobhna Samarth and great-grandmother Rattan Bai were both film stars. Her younger sister, Tanishaa, is also an actress, and her cousins include Rani Mukerji (Wikipedia; Britannica).

She was educated at St Joseph’s Convent School in Panchgani. At sixteen, while still in school, she was cast in Rahul Rawail’s romantic drama Bekhudi (1992), opposite fellow debutant Kamal Sadanah and her own mother. The film flopped, but her performance was noticed, and she dropped out of school to pursue acting full-time — a decision she later said she regretted, even as her career took off.

Career: the 1990s rise

Kajol’s first commercial success came with Abbas–Mustan’s crime thriller Baazigar (1993), opposite Shah Rukh Khan, the fourth-highest-grossing film of that year. Yeh Dillagi (1994), a Yash Raj romance inspired by Sabrina, earned her a first Filmfare Best Actress nomination and changed her screen persona from girl-next-door to leading lady.

1995 made her a star. She appeared in Rakesh Roshan’s reincarnation drama Karan Arjun, then in Aditya Chopra’s directorial debut Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (DDLJ), as Simran, a London-raised young woman who falls in love on a European trip and must persuade her conservative father to cancel her arranged marriage. The film became one of the most successful Indian films of all time, passed 1,000 weeks of continuous screening in Mumbai in 2014, and won Kajol her first Filmfare Best Actress award.

She refused to be typecast. In Gupt: The Hidden Truth (1997) she played Isha Diwan, an obsessive lover who turns into a psychopathic serial killer — becoming the first female actor to win the Filmfare Award for Best Performance in a Negative Role. In Dushman (1998) she played twin sisters, Sonia and Naina, in a revenge drama that remains one of her best-reviewed performances. And in 1998 she starred in three of the year’s highest-grossing films: Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya, Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha, and Karan Johar’s directorial debut Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, as the tomboyish Anjali in love with her best friend (Shah Rukh Khan) — her second Filmfare Best Actress win.

Marriage, sabbatical and comeback

Kajol began dating actor Ajay Devgn in 1994, while filming Gundaraj, and the couple married on 24 February 1999 in a traditional Maharashtrian ceremony. The marriage, at the peak of her career, drew intense media scrutiny, but she continued acting, if less frequently. Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (2001), Johar’s family drama, won her a third Filmfare Best Actress award, after which she took a sabbatical from full-time acting and worked infrequently for several years.

Her comeback was rewarded with two more Best Actress wins: for the romantic thriller Fanaa (2006), opposite Aamir Khan, and for My Name Is Khan (2010), again opposite Shah Rukh Khan, as Mandira, a woman whose family is shattered by post-9/11 prejudice. In 2011 the Government of India honoured her with the Padma Shri, the country’s fourth-highest civilian award, for her contribution to cinema. Her highest-grossing later releases include the comedy Dilwale (2015) and the period film Tanhaji (2020), in which she appeared alongside her husband.

Streaming era and recent work

Since 2021 Kajol has worked steadily in streaming. She starred in the Netflix drama Tribhanga (2021), headlined the legal series The Trial (2023) as lawyer Noyonika Sengupta — its second season streamed on 19 September 2025 — and played police officer Vidya Jyoti in the Netflix thriller Do Patti (25 October 2024), opposite Kriti Sanon’s dual role as twin sisters. In June 2025 she led the mythological horror film Maa, directed by Vishal Furia and set in the same universe as the 2024 hit Shaitaan, playing a mother protecting her daughter from a demonic curse.

Her connection to the Shah Rukh Khan story has stayed current: on 2 November 2026, as Khan turned 61, Kajol was among the first co-stars to lead the public birthday tributes, as the first song from his upcoming film King — the romantic track “Tu Mil Jaaye” — was released the same day (Jang). Beyond acting, she holds a managerial position at Devgn Entertainment and Software Ltd and is noted for social work with widows and children, for which she received the Karmaveer Puraskaar in 2008 (eTimes).

Personal life

Kajol and Ajay Devgn have two children, daughter Nysa (born 2003) and son Yug (born 2010) (BookMyShow). The family lives in Mumbai. She has spoken publicly about balancing a career that began in her teens with family life, and about the independence her mother instilled in her growing up between her parents’ Maharashtrian and Bengali cultures.

Net worth snapshot

Kajol’s net worth is estimated at around ₹240–285 crore (about $30 million) as of November 2026, based on press reports citing Celebrity Net Worth — there is no Forbes or Bloomberg estimate, and the figure is unaudited. The full breakdown, including why published property values for her family home conflict so sharply, is in Kajol’s net worth.

Frequently asked questions

What is Kajol best known for?

Her roles as Simran in Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995) and Anjali in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998), both opposite Shah Rukh Khan, which made her one of the defining leading ladies of 1990s Hindi cinema.

How many Filmfare Awards has Kajol won?

Six: five Best Actress awards (for DDLJ, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, Fanaa and My Name Is Khan) and one Best Performance in a Negative Role (for Gupt), a record-tying five Best Actress wins shared with her aunt Nutan.

Is Kajol married?

Yes. She has been married to actor and filmmaker Ajay Devgn since 24 February 1999. They have two children, Nysa and Yug.

What is Kajol’s latest film?

Her most recent theatrical lead is Maa (27 June 2025), a mythological horror film in the Shaitaan universe. Her recent streaming work includes The Trial season 2 (2025) and Do Patti (2024).

What is Kajol’s net worth?

Approximately ₹240–285 crore (around $30 million) as of November 2026, per press reports citing Celebrity Net Worth. No audited or Forbes/Bloomberg figure exists; see Kajol’s net worth for the full methodology.

Sources