Juhi Chawla
Juhi Chawla Mehta is an Indian actress. She established herself as one of the leading actresses of Hindi cinema from the late 1980s through the early 2000s. Recognised for her comic timing and vivacious on-screen persona, she is the recipient of several accolades, including two Filmfare Awards. As of 2025, she is the wealthiest Indian actress, with a net worth of.
After winning the 1984 Miss India beauty pageant, Chawla made her acting debut with a brief appearance in the Hindi film Sultanat, and had her breakthrough role in the tragic romance film Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, which earned her the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut. The year 1993 was key in her career, as she gained recognition for her starring roles in Lootere, Aaina, Darr, and Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke, winning the Filmfare Award for Best Actress for the lattermost. Further success came in 1997 with Deewana Mastana, Yes Boss, and Ishq.
In the following decade, Chawla began playing against type in art-house projects, garnering critical acclaim for her performances in Jhankaar Beats, 3 Deewarein, My Brother Nikhil, I Am and Gulaab Gang. She also starred in several Punjabi films, including the biopics Shaheed Udham Singh, Des Hoyaa Pardes, Waris Shah: Ishq Daa Waaris and Sukhmani – Hope for Life. Among her television work, she was a talent judge on the third season of the dance reality show Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa and had supporting roles in the streaming series Hush Hush and The Railway Men.
Chawla has been married to industrialist Jay Mehta since 1995, with whom she has two children. Along with her husband and Shah Rukh Khan, she is the co-owner of the Indian Premier League cricket team Kolkata Knight Riders. Along with Khan, she co-founded the production company Dreamz Unlimited, which produced three films, beginning with their self-starring Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani.
Early life
Juhi Chawla was born in Ambala, Haryana on 13 November 1967. Her father was an officer of the Indian Revenue Service. She completed her schooling at Fort Convent School, Bombay, and graduated from Sydenham College, Bombay. Chawla was the winner of the Miss India title in 1984. She also won the Best Costume Award at the Miss Universe contest in 1984.Career
Breakthrough (1986–1990)
Chawla's debut role in Bollywood was a small part in the 1986 film Sultanat. In 1987, she starred in Kannada-Tamil bilingual film Premaloka directed and produced by V Ravichandran. The Kannada version turned out to be a major commercial success and proved to be a break-through film for the lead cast and technical crew.She got her first major Hindi cinema role in Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak in 1988, in which she starred with Aamir Khan. The film, a modern-day adaption of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, was both a major critical and commercial success, with Khan and Chawla becoming "overnight stars". It won the Filmfare Award for Best Film, and Chawla became the first actress to win the Filmfare Award for Lux New Face of the Year, also receiving her first nomination for Best Actress. Chawla's pairing with Aamir Khan and their on-screen chemistry was often cited by the media as successful. The film has since attained a cult status, with The Times of India ranking it among the "Top 25 Must See Bollywood Films", calling it "one of the landmark films of Hindi cinema" and crediting it with making "Aamir Khan and Juhi Chawla household names". Premankur Biswas of First Post wrote in a retrospective review, "Juhi Chawla, with her flouncy ghagra and passive but assertive demeanor was an early predecessor to the sexually liberated Bollywood heroines of today. She wore what she wanted and initiated a relationship with the man she desired". The team Premaloka reunited in 1989 for the Kannada film Kindari Jogi and was declared a musical hit. In the same year she debuted in Telugu cinema with the film Vicky Daada co-starring Nagarjuna.
Established actress (1990–1997)
In 1990, she starred in Pratibandh. She also received her second Best Actress nomination at Filmfare for the film. Her other releases that year included the family drama Swarg alongside Rajesh Khanna and Govinda, which marked the first of several collaborations with director David Dhawan. In 1991, she collaborated third time with actor-director V Ravichandran for his multilingual directorial Shanti Kranti. The film, made with an expensive budget, underperformed at the box office leading into huge losses to the makers. The Tamil version saw her pairing opposite Rajinikanth. In 1992, she appeared in Bol Radha Bol alongside Rishi Kapoor, for which she received her third Filmfare nomination for Best Actress. Another pairing with Aamir Khan in Daulat Ki Jung resulted in negative reviews.In 1993, Chawla appeared in four films. Her first release was the action romance film Lootere, directed by Dharmesh Darshan and starring Sunny Deol, Naseeruddin Shah, Chunkey Pandey and Anupam Kher. She played a young woman who receives witness protection through the service of a bodyguard, played by Deol, with whom she eventually falls in love. This was the first movie in which she was cast in a glamorous role. Later, she was cast in two movies produced by Yash Chopra. The first was the romantic drama Aaina, which saw Chawla and Amrita Singh play sisters falling for the same man, played by Jackie Shroff. Her third film that year was Mahesh Bhatt's romantic comedy Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke opposite Aamir Khan, which was a success with both critics and audiences. Her performance as a Tamilian runaway, which required her to master Tamil language and dialect, met with acclaim and established her as a comic actress. Writing for The Indian Express, Udaya Tara Nayar noted that she played her role "to perfection". She won a Filmfare Award for Best Actress for her work. The last film she appeared in that year was the musical psychological thriller Darr, directed by Yash Chopra. The film was one of the highest-grossing films of the year, making it Chawla's fourth consecutive box office hit of the year. Darr was also a major critical success, winning several awards including the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment. She played Kiran, a young woman about to get married with her fiancé when she becomes the object of a young man's obsession.
Subsequently, she played leading roles in several films, most notably as Saraswati in David Dhawan's Andaz, Laxmi in Surendra Kumar Bohra's Saajan Ka Ghar, Bela in Rajiv Mehra's Ram Jaane, Sandhya in Naajayaz, which marked one of her rare collaborations with Ajay Devgn, and Kiran in David Dhawan and Boney Kapoor's Loafer, and all of them emerged as critical and commercial successes. She received critical acclaim for her performance as a battered wife in Abbas Mustan's thriller Daraar, and she received a nomination of Filmfare Award for Best Actress for her performance in the film. The film was not a major commercial success, but Chawla's performance earned her positive reviews. She was also offered Karisma Kapoor's role in Dil To Pagal Hai, but she turned it down. Chawla's career had hit its peak, and she regained mainstream success in 1997 with the romantic comedies Yes Boss, Deewana Mastana and Ishq, all becoming box office hits. Ishq became one of the top-earners of the year, and earned critical praise for the performances of its four leads.
In the romantic comedy Yes Boss, she played a model who becomes the love interest of an ad agency owner and his ambitious employee, played by Aditya Pancholi and Shah Rukh Khan, respectively. Yes Boss opened to favourable reviews and did well commercially, and Chawla received a seventh Filmfare nomination for her portrayal, which was described by Screen as "spirited". In a 1998 retrospective review for The Times of India, Khushboo Tiwari called it "a quintessential ‘90s romcom" and took note of Chawla's chemistry with Khan. In the comedy Deewana Mastana, Chawla played Dr. Neha Sharma, love interest to both Kapoor and Govinda and ends up marrying Salman Khan. The film was a commercial success. Her other release of the year was Mr and Mrs Khiladi alongside Akshay Kumar. The film turned out to be an average grosser at the box-office.
Setback (1998–1999)
In 1998, she appeared once again alongside Shah Rukh Khan in Duplicate, the film was produced by Yash Johar and directed by Mahesh Bhatt. Despite ranking as the 12th highest grosser of the year, the film underperformed at the box office upon its release. The same year, she appeared in Hrishikesh Mukherjee's swan song Jhooth Bole Kauwa Kaate alongside Anil Kapoor; the film was received well by critics for its reminiscence of Mukherjee's films, with one critic calling it a "a classy comedy". The same year, she also appeared in Priyadarshan's rural drama Saat Rang Ke Sapne opposite Arvind Swamy. The film underperformed at the box-office, but Khalid Mohamed wrote of her that she is "only saving grace. Lovely to look at and an instinctive actress, she's a likeable as ever." The same year, she starred in the Malayalam detective comedy Harikrishnans opposite Mohanlal and Mammootty. Harikrishnans was a commercial success.In 1999, she appeared in Arjun Pandit opposite Sunny Deol. She played a woman who seeks revenge in the film and described her character as "a role with negative shades". The film was the thirteenth highest-grossing film of 1999, and emerged as a critical and commercial success. Chawla's work was well received in this movie. The same year, she also starred opposite Sanjay Dutt in the adventure film Safari, a critical and commercial failure. She worked free of charge in the Punjabi-language biographical film Shaheed Udham Singh, based on the life of Udham Singh.