Early life
Kajal was born in
Mumbai to Vinay Agarwal, an entrepreneur, and Suman Agarwal, a confectioner.
[2] She is of
Punjabi descent.
[2] She has a younger sister,
Nisha Aggarwal, who is also an actress appearing in Telugu and Tamil films.
[7] She studied at St. Anne's High School,
Colaba, Mumbai and
Jai Hind College, Mumbai.
[3] She graduated from
K.C. College, Mumbai with a
degree in Mass Media.
[3]She started her modelling career while she was still in college.
[8] She was planning on pursuing
MBA in Brand Management before deciding to pursue acting.
[9][10]
[edit]Film career
[edit]Early career (2004–08)
Kajal made her acting debut in the 2004 Bollywood film
Kyun...! Ho Gaya Na, in which she enacted a minor supporting role as the friend of Diya,
[11][12] following which she signed veteran Tamil director
Bharathiraja's
Bommalattam, alongside
Arjun Sarja. The film, however, got delayed and released in late 2008.
She made her debut in the
Telugu film industry and played her first leading role in 2007 in
Teja's
Lakshmi Kalyanam alongside
Kalyan Ram, which did not fare well at the box office. Later that year, she appeared in the
Krishna Vamsi-directed film
Chandamama, which opened to positive reviews and became her first major successful film.
[13] In 2008, she had her first
Tamil film release,
Perarasu's action entertainer
Pazhani, co-starring
Bharath. Following this film, she had two more Tamil releases that year with
Venkat Prabhu’s comedy-thriller
Saroja, 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,
[14] both films failed to boost her career as her roles were too insignificant.
[15]Both her Telugu releases,
Pourudu and
Aatadista opposite
Sumanth and
Nitin, respectively, neither received positive reviews while the former was successful at the box office.
[edit]Success in Tollywood and Bollywood comeback (2009–11)
Kajal had four releases in 2009; she first starred in another Tamil film
Modhi Vilayadu, opposite
Vinay Rai which garnered mixed reviews and was a financial failure, following which she appeared in the high-budget Telugu historical drama
Magadheera, alongside
Ram Charan Teja, which saw her essaying double roles for the first time. The film, directed by
S. S. Rajamouli, received universal critical acclaim, while Kajal, particularly, was praised for her portrayal of a
princess in the film. Kajal was nominated for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress in Telugu and was also nominated for the award for Best Telugu Actress in the South Scope Awards for her performance in the film.
[16][17] The film was also highly commercially successful and broke several records,
[18] emerging as the highest-grossing Telugu film of all time.
[19][20][21] Magadheera's enormous success turned Kajal into one of the most sought-after actresses in
Telugu cinemaand catapulted her into the main foray of leading Telugu actresses.
[22] The film was released again in Tamil as
Maaveeran in 2011, which was also successful at the box office.
[23] 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.
[24][25]
Kajal'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,
[26] with Kajal receiving her second
Filmfare nomination for Best Actressfor her performance. 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 unanimously positive reviews.
[27] The film was a box office success. The chemistry between Karthi and Kajal in the film was widely praised.
[28] It was later dubbed in Telugu as
Naa Peru Siva, in Andhra Pradesh and became a success there too.
[29] Kajal's final release in 2010 was another romantic comedy
Brindavanam opposite
Jr. NTR and
Samantha, which received critical acclaim and went on to become an economical success as well,
[30] while fetching Kajal the
CineMAA Award for Best Actress.
In 2011, she 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 in the film as a conservative doctor and her chemistry with Prabhas won appraisal by critics.
[31][32] Kajal received her third Filmfare nomination for Best Actress in Telugu for her performance.
[33] In May, she appeared in
Veera opposite
Ravi Teja that received negative reviews
[34] and failed at the box office.
[35]
[edit]Kollywood success (2012-present)
Kajal made a comeback in Kollywood later that year with two big releases; the first was the
action thriller film
Maattrraan opposite
Surya and directed by
K. V. Anand. The film received mixed to positive reviews from critics. Her performance was well received; a review carried by
The Indian Express summarised "Kajal does with utmost sincerity as the foreign language translator Anjali. It’s this trait and her graceful demeanour which makes Kajal a pleasant watch.
[42] The second was
A. R. Murugadoss's
Thuppakki, another action thriller film opposite
Vijay, where she played the role of a
boxer. The film was released on
Deepavali and received mostly positive reviews from the critics. While
Maattrraan was declared as an average success,
[43] Thuppaki was declared as a blockbuster and has become the second Tamil film ever to enter the

100 crore club.
[44] Her final release in 2012 was the Telugu
romantic film Sarocharu, opposite Ravi Teja for the second time in her career. Although her performance in the film was praised by critics, the film received poor reviews and did below-average business at the box office.
[45]
[edit]Upcoming projects
She will be seen opposite Jr. NTR for the second time in her career in
Srinu Vytla's
Baadshah.
[48] Baadshah is tentatively scheduled to release in March 2013.
[49] She is also currently shooting for her third film in Bollywood,
Special Chabbis alongside
Akshay Kumar.
[50] It is said that she would be the only female character in the film.
[51] The film is to release on 8 February 2013.
[52] Another Tamil film,
All in All Azhagu Raja has been announced, where she will again star opposite Karthi.
[53]
It is also announced that Kajal, along with Allu Arjun, would make a cameo appearance in the film
Yevadu, starring Ram Charan Teja,
Shruthi Hassan and
Amy Jackson.
[54] This film would mark the third time she is acting alongside Ram Charan Teja and the second time alongside Allu Arjun. She has also been signed on to play one of the heroines in the film
Suryudu Chanadrudu, which is a multi-starrer starring
Daggubati Venkatesh, Prabhas and
Trisha Krishnan.
[55] This would be the third film Kajal and Prabhas are acting together.
[edit]Brand endorsements
In addition to films, Kajal also endorses a large number of popular brands. Before starting her film career, she had acted in various commercials as a model.
[10] She is the brand ambassador for
Lux, joining the likes of
Aishwarya Rai,
Priyanka Chopra,
Katrina Kaif in endorsing the beauty soap.
[56] She is also the brand ambassador for jewellery stores like
Sri Lakshmi Jewellery in
Puducherry and
AVRin
Salem.
[57][58] She has featured in television advertisements along with Karthi endorsing
Bru instant coffee.
[59] She has also endorsed mobile brands like
Samsung Mobile[60] and has featured in advertisements for the
Secunderabad based
The Chennai Shopping Mall, along with Samantha,
Tamannaah and Nisha Aggarwal. In April 2012, Kajal was announced as the brand ambassador for
Panasonic India.
[61] She is also the brand ambassador for the
Telugu Warriors cricket team in the
CCL.
[62]
[edit]Awards and nominations
- CineMAA Awards
- Filmfare Awards South
- Filmfare Awards
- Zee Cine Awards
- Other awards/nominations
- Nominated, South Scope Award for Best Telugu Actress- Magadheera (2009)
[edit]Filmography