Kajal Aggarwal (born 19 June 1985) is an Indian actress and model who mainly appears in Telugu and Tamil language films, in addition to a few Hindi films. Aggarwal has worked in more than 50 films and also received two South Indian International Movie Awards. Aggarwal made her acting debut with the 2004 Hindi film Kyun! Ho Gaya Na... and had her first Telugu film release in 2007, Lakshmi Kalyanam. In the same year, she starred in the box office hit Chandamama, which earned her recognition. The 2009 Telugu fantasy action film Magadheera marked a turning point in her career, earning her critical acclaim. It ranks among the highest-grossing Telugu films of all time and fetched her Best Actress nominations at several award ceremonies including South Filmfare Awards. She subsequently starred in Telugu films such as Darling (2010), Brindavanam (2010), Mr. Perfect (2011), Businessman (2012), Naayak (2013), Baadshah (2013), Govindudu Andarivadele (2014), Temper (2015) and Khaidi No. 150 (2017). Kajal also played the female lead in the high-profile Tamil projects Naan Mahaan Alla (2010), Maattrraan (2012), Thuppakki (2012), Jilla (2014), Vivegam (2017) and Mersal (2017). She made a comeback to Hindi cinema with Singham (2011), which was a hit, while another film Special 26 (2013) was also a box office success. In 2020, a wax figure of Aggarwal was put on display at Madame Tussauds Singapore, making it the first of an actress from South Indian cinema. Early life and education Aggarwal was born and raised in a Punjabi Hindu family settled in Bombay (present-day Mumbai). Her father Suman Aggarwal, is an entrepreneur in the textile business and her mother Vinay Aggarwal 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, she intends to achieve a post-graduation degree soon. Career Film debut and struggles (2004–08) Aggarwal made her acting debut in the 2004 Bollywood film Kyun! Ho Gaya Na..., in which she had a minor supporting role. Aggarwal made her debut in Telugu and played her first leading role in 2007 in Teja's Lakshmi Kalyanam, alongside Kalyan Ram; it did not fare