 In 1998 , Kajol established herself as a leading actress of contemporary Hindi cinema by featuring in three of the top @-@ grossing productions of the year . Her first release that year was Sohail Khan 's romantic comedy Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya , in which she played Muskaan Thakur , a naive village girl who falls in love with a rich boy ( played by Salman Khan ) , but faces difficulties in convincing her elder brother about her relationship . The film not just emerged as a box office hit , but also garnered positive comments from critics , as did Kajol 's performance . In her next release , the psychological thriller Dushman , Kajol played the dual roles of twin sisters , Sonia and Naina Saigal , alongside Sanjay Dutt and Ashutosh Rana . Directed by Tanuja Chandra and written by Mahesh Bhatt , the film revolves around Naina avenging the rape and murder of her sister , and won Kajol critical appreciation with reviewer Sukanya Verma writing , " Kajol is in superb form , both as the opinionated career @-@ minded twin who is murdered , and as the avenger . Even she must have preferred less glycerine and more restraint . " Despite underperforming at the box @-@ office , Dushman proved to be a major critical success . For her performance , Kajol won her first Screen Award for Best Actress and received a Best Actress nomination at Filmfare . 
