Kajal Aggarwal

Kajal A Kitchlu (née Aggarwal; born 19 June 1985), known professionally as Kajal Aggarwal, is an Indian actress who predominantly works in Telugu, Tamil and Hindi films. Aggarwal is considered as one of the highest paid actresses of South Indian cinema. She is a recipient of three SIIMA Awards along with four Filmfare Awards South nominations.

Aggarwal made her acting debut with a minor role in the 2004 Hindi film Kyun! Ho Gaya Na... and had her first Telugu film release in Lakshmi Kalyanam (2007). In the same year, she gained wider recognition for her role in Chandamama. The 2009 fantasy film Magadheera, one of the highest-grossing Telugu films of all time, marked a turning point in her career and earned her critical acclaim.

Her other notable Telugu films include Darling (2010), Brindavanam (2010), Mr. Perfect (2011), Businessman (2012), Naayak (2013), Baadshah (2013), Govindudu Andarivadele (2014), Temper (2015), Khaidi No. 150 (2017), Nene Raju Nene Mantri (2017), Awe (2018) and Bhagavanth Kesari (2023). She has also played the female lead in high-profile Tamil projects such as Naan Mahaan Alla (2010), Maattrraan (2012), Thuppakki (2012), Jilla (2014), Vivegam (2017), Mersal (2017) and Comali (2019). Her most successful Hindi films include the action film Singham (2011) and the thriller Special 26 (2013).

In 2020, a wax figure of Aggarwal was put on display at Madame Tussauds Singapore, a first for an actress from South Indian cinema.

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 Aggarwal, 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".

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.