Kajal Aggarwal

Early life and education

Kajal Aggarwal was born on 19 June 1985 and raised in a Punjabi family with roots in Amritsar, settled in Bombay (present-day Mumbai). Her father Vinay Aggarwal, is an entrepreneur in the textile business and her mother Suman is a confectioner, and also Kajal's business manager. Kajal has a younger sister Nisha Agarwal, an actress in Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam cinema.

Aggarwal studied at St. Anne's High School, Fort, Mumbai, and completed her pre-university education at Jai Hind College. She pursued her graduation in mass media, with specialisation in marketing and advertising, from Kishinchand Chellaram College. Having harboured MBA dreams all through her growing years, in 2012, she said she "intended to achieve a post-graduation degree soon".

Career

Debut and early struggle (2004–2008)

Aggarwal made her acting debut in the 2004 Hindi film Kyun! Ho Gaya Na..., in which she played Aishwarya Rai Bachchan's sister.

Aggarwal made her debut in Telugu films in 2007, with Teja's Lakshmi Kalyanam, alongside Kalyan Ram; it had an average return 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, opposite Bharath. She had one more Tamil release that year with Venkat Prabhu's comedy-thriller Saroja, in which she did a guest appearance. Although the film went on to become a commercial as well as a critical success, the film failed to boost her career as her role was too insignificant. Her Telugu releases Pourudu and Aatadista opposite Sumanth and Nitin, respectively, did not receive positive reviews, but both were successful at the box office.

Critical acclaim and recognition (2009–2012)

Aggarwal had four releases in 2009. She first starred opposite Vinay Rai in the Tamil film Modhi Vilayadu, which garnered mixed reviews and was a financial failure. She then appeared in S. S. Rajamouli's high budget Telugu historical drama Magadheera, opposite Ram Charan Teja. She played dual roles of Mithra, a princess and Indu, a modern woman. Aggarwal's performance earned her server nominations including Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu. The film became successful commercially and broke several records, emerging as the highest-grossing Telugu film of all time. Radhika Rajamani of Rediff.com noted, "Kajal was quite a surprise package. She was sweet and charming and looked like an 'ethereal' princess. She carries off both the roles fairly well." It was released again in Tamil as Maaveeran in 2011, and was also successful at the box office. Her subsequent releases Ganesh, opposite Ram Pothineni 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 as Prabhas's childhood lover Bandini. The film went onto become a commercial success at the box office. Her performance earned her second Filmfare Best Actress – Telugu nomination and a Sify critic stated that she "mesmerized" the audience. Later that year, she appeared in the Tamil thriller film Naan Mahaan Alla, opposite Karthi, which was based on a real-life incident and opened to positive reviews. A commercial success, it was later dubbed in Telugu as Naa Peru Siva in Andhra Pradesh and was a success. Her final release that year was the romantic comedy Brindavanam opposite Jr. NTR and Samantha, which received critical acclaim and went on to become a commercial success. She won the CineMAA Award for Best Actress for the film.

In 2011, Aggarwal first reunited with Prabhas in the romantic comedy Mr. Perfect, where she played Priya, a doctor. The film became a critical and commercial success. A The Times of India critic stated, "Kajal looks great, expresses well and fits into the role perfectly. Her chemistry with Prabhas is commendable." She earned her third Filmfare Best Actress – Telugu nomination, for her performance. She then appeared in Veera, replacing Anushka Shetty and starred opposite Ravi Teja. The film received moderate reviews and emerged a moderate success. Later that year, Aggarwal made her comeback to Hindi films with Singham, a remake of the same-titled 2010 Tamil film, opposite Ajay Devgn. She played a Goan girl Kavya Bhosle and received Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut nomination for the same. Komal Nahta noted, "Kaajal may not be very beautiful but she acts with effortless ease. Her performance is good." Sukanya Venkatraghavan stated, "Kajal looks pretty and has done what she has been told to, but probably deserved a meatier debut." Nevertheless, the film was a hit at the box office. Her last release of the year came with the Telugu film Dhada, opposite Naga Chaitanya, which failed at the box office.

Commercial success and career progression (2013–2017)

Aggarwal starred in the action film Naayak, opposite Ram Charan Teja, her first release of 2013. Upon release, it received positive reviews and was a major commercial success. She then played a teacher Priya, opposite Akshay Kumar in Special 26, a heist drama directed by Neeraj Pandey. It went on to be a major critical and commercial success. Rajeev Masand noted, "Kajal keeps it real as the girl next door who falls for Ajay, and their romance is sweet." She later appeared in Srinu Vaitla's Baadshah, opposite Jr. NTR. Upon its release, critics appreciated her performance and a critic stated, "Kajal is as usual an eye-candy. She's got a good role and has done justice to her performance. Also she looks stunning in the songs." The film was a financial success. Her final release that year was All in All Azhagu Raja opposite Karthi. It released to negative reviews from critics and had an average collection.

In 2014, Aggarwal starred in R. T. Neason's masala film Jilla, in which she played a police officer opposite Vijay. The film was a major commercial success. She then featured in a cameo appearance opposite Allu Arjun in the Telugu action thriller film Yevadu, again a box office success. Her next release was Krishna Vamsi's family drama Govindudu Andarivadele, which became one of the highest grossing Telugu film of the year. She played Satya, a modern girl opposite Ram Charan. Suresh Kaviyarani stated, "Kajal is beautiful and glamorous. Her chemistry with Charan comes up neatly." The film earned her fourth nomination for Filmfare Best Actress – Telugu.

In her first release of 2015, Aggarwal appeared in Puri Jagannadh's Telugu action film Temper. She played Saanvi, an animal lover opposite Jr. NTR. Hemanth Kumar noted, "Despite her limited role, Kajal does well, although the duo's underwritten romantic track leaves a lot to be desired." The film was a commercial success and one of the highest-grossing film of the year. Aggarwal then appeared in Balaji Mohan's gangster comedy film Maari, opposite Dhanush. S Saraswathi of Rediff noted: "Kajal Aggarwal does have a significant role to play, but her onscreen chemistry with Dhanush just does not work". The film became a commercial success. Her other release, Suseenthiran's action film Paayum Puli, alongside Vishal, received mixed reviews and failed at the box office. Reviewers criticised her character stating: "badly written and has nothing more to do with the script." That year, she also did a cameo appearance in the bilingual romantic comedy film Size Zero.

Career fluctuations (2018–present)

In 2018, Aggarwal had a leading role in the Telugu film MLA. In April 2018, she signed to a Telugu film which also features Ravi Teja, marking her third collaboration with the actor. She also starred in Awe, where she played a troubled woman. Aggarwal later bagged a role in Kavacham.

In 2019, Aggarwal was seen in Comali. She then reunited with director Teja for Sita, where she plays the titular character, an arrogant, selfish businesswoman who manipulates people for business improvement and money.

In 2020, her role in the Telugu film Acharya, co-starring Chiranjeevi, Ram Charan was announced. It is directed by Koratala Siva and produced by Ram Charan and Niranjan Reddy. However, when the trailer released, there was no clip that featured her, which triggered rumours of makers cutting down her role. The rumours were confirmed by the director Koratala Siva in an interview.

In 2021, her two films released on 19 March, Mosagallu directed by Jeffery Gee Chin co-starring Vishnu Manchu and Suniel Shetty; and Sanjay Gupta directed Hindi film Mumbai Saga.

Her first release in 2022 was Hey Sinamika, directed by Brinda, it has Dulquer Salmaan and Aditi Rao Hydari alongside her. The film released on 3 March 2022. In 2023, she appeared in Bhagavanth Kesari directed by Anil Ravipudi. The film received mixed reviews from the critics.

In her first film of 2025, Aggarwal played an aspiring entrepreneur Vaidehi alongside Salman Khan and Vishal Vashishtha in Sikandar. Rahul Desai of The Hollywood Reporter stated, "Capable performer like Kajal has been reduced to the sort of passing character." Aggarwal will next appear in Kannappa opposite Akshay Kumar, and The India Story alongside Shreyas Talpade. She will also portray Mandodari opposite Yash in Ramayana: Part 1.

Personal life

On 6 October 2020, Aggarwal announced her upcoming marriage to Gautam Kitchlu. On 30 October 2020, the couple got married in a small, private ceremony in her hometown of Mumbai, India, with only the couple's immediate families in attendance.

Kajal made her pregnancy official with an Instagram post, which was also confirmed by her husband shortly. She gave birth to a boy on 19 April 2022, named Neil.

In the media

Aggarwal is considered among the most popular actors of Telugu cinema. She is one of the highest paid actresses in South Indian cinema, according to various media reports. Aggarwal has appeared in Forbes India's Celebrity 100 list of 2015, where she debuted at 58th position with an estimated annual income of ₹101.3 million (US$1.1 million). She stood at the 15th place on Forbes India's most influential stars on Instagram in South cinema for the year 2021.

Aggarwal was placed 2nd in 2020 and 4th in 2021, in the most tweeted South Indian actresses list. In 2022, she was named among the most searched Asian on Google and also became the most searched South Indian actress, that year. Aggarwal was named the Hyderabad Times Most Desirable Woman of 2016. In the same list, she was later placed 2nd in 2017, 10th in 2018, 8th in 2019 and 9th in 2020. She is a celebrity endorser for several brands such as Panasonic, Dabur Amla Oil, Bru and Pond's. As of August 2024, she is one of the most-followed Telugu actors on Instagram.

Accolades

Aggarwal has received four Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu nominations — for her films, Magadheera, Darling, Mr. Perfect and Govindudu Andarivadele.