Kajol - by lehren
Four of the top hits of the year feature Kajol. Luck, popularity or excellent choice of films? Whatever, Kajol's dream year is coming to an end. Is this the voluntary end to her career too? Unfortunately, even she doesn't seem to have answers ready for this multi-crore question. Marriage seems to be the priority as there's only one more big film in the bag for Kajol -- D. Rama Naidu's Satish Kaushik directed Hum Aapke Dil Mein Rehte Hain, where co-incidentally she plays a true-to-type bahu.
Her roles in the the four hits of the year -- Pyar Kiya To
Darna Kya, Dushman, Pyar To Hona Hi Tha and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai have been as varied as the
four heroes opposite her. Shows you can't pin her down to "type" either in
image or star pairing. Granted Kuch Kuch Hota Hain is Kajol's fourth hit with Shah Rukh
Khan, after Baazigar, Karan Arjun and Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jaayenge but she didn't want to
be just part of a popular hit pair. Or rumours have it that fiance Ajay Devgan wasn't too
happy with the Shah Rukh-Kajol team and advised her to drop out of even Mani Ratnam's Dil
Se. Anyway, since Dil Se didn't rake in any moolah and Manisha didn't score any points
with the film , Kajol hasn't lost much.
What she did gain was a reputaion for giving consistency in performance and variation in
her roles. She complemented the suave Salman in Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya, was hilarious in
comedy with her beau Ajay in Pyar To Hona Hi Tha and the spunky double role in Dushman
proved there is more to her than just the thousand-watt smile. However, her role in Kuch
Kuch Hota Hai would have given nightmares to any other established heroine. She sat back
in the first half and let Rani Mukherjee hog all the cat-calls and whistles. To her credit
Kajol actually even managed to look elegant in the more mature role in the second half.
All this coming on top of the "killing" she made last year with Gupt, Kajol can
safely look forward to another fulfilling year in 1999, provided she doesn't opt solely
for domesticity.
Ó Destination Kajol