About Kajal Aggarwal:

Kajal Aggarwal (born 19 June 1985) is an Indian film actress and model who predominantly works in Telugu and Tamil films. She has also appeared in a few Hindi films. Through her successful career, Kajal has become one of the most popular celebrities inSouth India. In addition to acting, Kajal participates in stage shows and is a prominent celebrity endorser for brands and products.

Aggarwal made her acting debut with the 2004 Bollywood film Kyun! Ho Gaya Na… and had her first Telugu film release in 2007Lakshmi Kalyanam. In the same year, she starred in the box office hit Chandamama, which earned her critical acclaim. The 2009 historical fiction Telugu film Magadheera marked a turning point in her career, earning her critical acclaim. It ranks among thehighest-grossing Telugu films of all time and fetched her Best Actress nominations at several award ceremonies includingFilmfare.

She followed with a series of box-office hits in Telugu like Arya 2 (2009), Darling (2010), Brindavanam (2010), Mr. Perfect (2011),Veera (2011), Businessman (2012), Naayak (2013), Baadshah (2013), Govindudu Andarivadele (2014), Temper (2015) and established herself as one of the leading and highest-paid actresses in Tollywood.

Aggarwal achieved further success by featuring as the female lead in the high-profile Tamil projects Naan Mahaan Alla (2010),Maattrraan (2012), Thuppakki (2012), Jilla (2014), Maari (2015) and emerged as a leading actress in Kollywood as well. She made a comeback to Bollywood with Singham (2011) which was a blockbuster while her Special 26 (2013) was also declared a box-office success.

Early life

Kajal was born in Mumbai to Vinay Aggarwal, an entrepreneur, and Suman Aggarwal, a confectioner. She has a younger sister, Nisha Agarwal, who is also an actress appearing in Telugu and Tamil films. She studied at St. Anne’s High School, Colaba, Mumbai and Jai Hind College, Mumbai. She graduated from K.C. College, Mumbai with a degree in Mass Media specialising in advertising and marketing. In her final year of college, she did internship with Loreal and has started her modelling career. She was planning on pursuing MBA in Brand Management before deciding to pursue acting.

Career

Debut and struggles (2004–08)

Aggarwal made her acting debut in the 2004 Bollywood film Kyun…! Ho Gaya Na, in which she had a minor supporting role as the friend of Diya. She signed veteran Tamil director Bharathiraja‘s Bommalattam, alongside Arjun Sarja. The film got delayed and released in late 2008.

Aggarwal made her debut in the Telugu film industry and played her first leading role in 2007 in Teja‘s Lakshmi Kalyanam alongside Kalyan Ram; it did not fare well at the box office. Later that year, she appeared in the Krishna Vamsi-directed Chandamama, which opened to positive reviews and became her first major successful film. In 2008, she had her first Tamil film release, Perarasu‘s action entertainer Pazhani, co-starring Bharath. She had two more Tamil releases that year with Venkat Prabhu’s comedy-thrillerSaroja, in which she did a guest appearance, and Bharathiraja’s investigative thriller Bommalattam. Although the former went on to become a commercial as well as a critical success, both films failed to boost her career as her roles were too insignificant. Her Telugu releases, Pourudu and Aatadista opposite Sumanth and Nitin, respectively, did not receive positive reviews; both were successful at the box office.

Public recognition and widespread success (2009–12)

Aggarwal had four releases in 2009. She first starred in the Tamil film Modhi Vilayadu, opposite Vinay Rai which garnered mixed reviews and was a financial failure. Then she appeared in the high budget Telugu historical drama Magadheera, alongside Ram Charan Teja, which saw her playing double roles for the first time. The film, directed by S. S. Rajamouli, received universal critical acclaim, while Aggarwal, particularly, was praised for her portrayal of a princess.

Aggarwal was nominated for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress in Telugu and nominated for the award for Best Telugu Actress in the South Scope Awards for her performance. It was highly commercially successful and broke several records, emerging as the highest-grossing Telugu film of all time. Magadheera’s enormous success turned Aggarwal into one of the most sought-after actresses in Telugu cinema and catapulted her into the main foray of leading Telugu actresses. It was released again in Tamil as Maaveeran in 2011 and was also successful at the box office. Her subsequent releases Ganesh Just Ganesh, opposite Ram and Arya 2 opposite Allu Arjun received mixed reviews from critics, while her performance garnered positive feedback.

Aggarwal’s first 2010 release was A. Karunakaran‘s romantic comedy Darling, which featured her alongside Prabhas and received favorable response, becoming a commercial success at the box office, with Kajal receiving her second Filmfare nomination for Best Actress.

Later that year, Aggarwal appeared in the Tamil thriller film Naan Mahaan Alla opposite Karthi, which was based on a real-life incident and opened to unanimously positive reviews.

It was a box office success. The chemistry between Karthi and Aggarwal was widely praised. It was later dubbed in Telugu as Naa Peru Siva, in Andhra Pradesh and became a success there, too. Aggarwal’s final release in 2010 was another romantic comedyBrindavanam opposite Jr. NTR and Samantha, which received critical acclaim and went on to become an economic success, while fetching Aggarwal the CineMAA Award for Best Actress.

In 2011, Aggarwal was paired with Prabhas for the second time in the romantic comedy Mr. Perfect, directed by Dasaradh. The film became a critical and commercial success. Kajal’s performance as a conservative doctor and her chemistry with Prabhas won praise by critics. Kajal received her third Filmfare nomination for Best Actress in Telugu for her performance. In May, she appeared in Veeraopposite Ravi Teja that received negative reviews and failed at the box office.