Tanishaa Mukerji (born 3 March 1978) is an Indian actress known for her works in Hindi films. A member of the Mukherjee-Samarth family, daughter of filmmaker Shomu Mukherjee and actress Tanuja, and the younger sister of actress Kajol. She made her debut with the slasher film Sssshhh... in 2003 and had her first success with the political crime thriller film Sarkar, and its sequel Sarkar Raj in which she had a supporting role. This was followed by a career declined, In 2013, she made her television debut as a contestant in Colors TV's reality show Bigg Boss 7, where she finished as 1st runner-up.

Personal life

Tanishaa Mukerji is the daughter of Shomu Mukherjee, a Bengali Hindu Bollywood film director and his Marathi wife, veteran Bollywood actress Tanuja and is the younger sister of Bollywood actress Kajol. She was once in a relationship with her Big Boss 7 housemate, Armaan Kohli for a year before they broke up in October 2014.

Early life and family

Mukerji was born in Mumbai on 3 March 1978, into the family of Shomu Mukherjee, a Bengali Hindu film director and his Marathi wife, veteran actress Tanuja, and so is the younger sister of Bollywood actress Kajol. She was in a relationship with her ''Bigg Boss 7'' housemate, Armaan Kohli for a year before they broke up in October 2014.

Career

She got her first break in Bollywood with the thriller slasher film, ''Sssshhh...'' opposite Karan Nath and Dino Morea. It received poor reviews Taran Adarsh from ''Bollywood Hungama'' called, "''Sssshhh?'' a weak screenplay with excessive length and most importantly, a half-baked climax" and wrote, "Mukerji needs to work on her dialogue delivery along with screen appearance". The film was a critical and commercial failure. Her next release the romantic comedy film ''Popcorn Khao! Mast Ho Jao'' (2004) received negative reviews from critics, upon its premiere and performed poorly at the box office. In 2005, she starred in the romantic comedy film ''Neal 'n' Nikki'' co-starring Uday Chopra under the banner of Yash Raj Films. The film was released on 9 December 2005 to highly negative reviews from critics and emerged as a commercial failure at the box office. A reviewer wrote, "''Neal 'n' Nikki'' concentrates more on skin show than a sound story terrible letdown in terms of content".The same year, she appeared in a supporting roles of Avantika in the political crime thriller film ''Sarkar'' alongside an ensemble cast. The film released on 1 July 2005, with positive reviews and became commercially successful. Her last release in 2005 was the war film ''Tango Charlie'' opposite Bobby Deol. This was her consecutive 4th box office failure. After two years gap in 2007, she made her Tamil film debut with the romantic musical film ''Unnale Unnale'', opposite Vinay Rai. The film was successful at the box office with received positive reviews for its storyline and the performances and got her a nomination at Vijay Awards for Best Debut Female. In 2008, she was seen in the comedy film ''One Two Three'' opposite Upen Patel. This too had an unsuccessful run at the box office. The same year, she reprise her role in the second installment of ''Sarkar'' film series, ''Sarkar Raj''. The sequel also became critical and commercial success. A reviewer wrote, "''Neal 'n' Nikki'' concentrates more on skin show than a sound story terrible letdown in terms of content".The same year, she appeared in a supporting roles of Avantika in the political crime thriller film ''Sarkar'' alongside an ensemble cast. The film released on 1 July 2005, with positive reviews and became commercially successful. Her last release in 2005 was the war film ''Tango Charlie'' opposite Bobby Deol. This was her consecutive 4th box office failure. After two years gap in 2007, she made her Tamil film debut with the romantic musical film ''Unnale Unnale'', opposite Vinay Rai. The film was successful at the box office with received positive reviews for its storyline and the performances and got her a nomination at Vijay Awards for Best Debut Female. In 2008, she was seen in the comedy film ''One Two Three'' opposite Upen Patel. This too had an unsuccessful run at the box office. The same year, she reprise her role in the second installment of ''Sarkar'' film series, ''Sarkar Raj''. The sequel also became critical and commercial success. She was later seen as one of the judges in the stand-up comedy show ''Gangs of Haseepur''. In 2016, she participated in ''Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi 7'' and became a finalist. She participated as a contestant on Sony TV's dance reality show '' Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 11'' where she finished in 13th place.

Film debut and breakthrough

Tanishaa got her first break in Bollywood with her film, ''Sssshhh...'' opposite Karan Nath. Her Tamil movie ''Unnale Unnale'', opposite Vinay Rai was successful at the box office and got her a nomination at Vijay Awards for Best Debut Actress. In 2005, she played the female lead character of Nikkita Bakshi, a.k.a. Nikki, in ''Neal N Nikki'', opposite Uday Chopra. She was also seen in movies such as ''Popcorn Khao! Mast Ho Jao'', ''Sarkar'', ''Tango Charlie'' and many more.

Debut with commercial failures & career declined (2003–2008)

She got her first break in Bollywood with the thriller slasher film, ''Sssshhh...'' opposite Karan Nath and Dino Morea. It received poor reviews Taran Adarsh from ''Bollywood Hungama'' called, "''Sssshhh?'' a weak screenplay with excessive length and most importantly, a half-baked climax" and wrote, "Mukerji needs to work on her dialogue delivery along with screen appearance". The film was a critical and commercial failure. Her next release the romantic comedy film ''Popcorn Khao! Mast Ho Jao'' (2004) received negative reviews from critics, upon its premiere and performed poorly at the box office. In 2005, she starred in the romantic comedy film ''Neal 'n' Nikki'' co-starring Uday Chopra under the banner of Yash Raj Films. The film was released on 9 December 2005 to highly negative reviews from critics and emerged as a commercial failure at the box office. A reviewer wrote, "''Neal 'n' Nikki'' concentrates more on skin show than a sound story terrible letdown in terms of content".The same year, she appeared in a supporting roles of Avantika in the political crime thriller film ''Sarkar'' alongside an ensemble cast. The film released on 1 July 2005, with positive reviews and became commercially successful. Her last release in 2005 was the war film ''Tango Charlie'' opposite Bobby Deol. This was her consecutive 4th box office failure. After two years gap in 2007, she made her Tamil film debut with the romantic musical film ''Unnale Unnale'', opposite Vinay Rai. The film was successful at the box office with received positive reviews for its storyline and the performances and got her a nomination at Vijay Awards for Best Debut Female. In 2008, she was seen in the comedy film ''One Two Three'' opposite Upen Patel. This too had an unsuccessful run at the box office. The same year, she reprise her role in the second installment of ''Sarkar'' film series, ''Sarkar Raj''. The sequel also became critical and commercial success. A reviewer wrote, "''Neal 'n' Nikki'' concentrates more on skin show than a sound story terrible letdown in terms of content".The same year, she appeared in a supporting roles of Avantika in the political crime thriller film ''Sarkar'' alongside an ensemble cast. The film released on 1 July 2005, with positive reviews and became commercially successful. Her last release in 2005 was the war film ''Tango Charlie'' opposite Bobby Deol. This was her consecutive 4th box office failure. After two years gap in 2007, she made her Tamil film debut with the romantic musical film ''Unnale Unnale'', opposite Vinay Rai. The film was successful at the box office with received positive reviews for its storyline and the performances and got her a nomination at Vijay Awards for Best Debut Female. In 2008, she was seen in the comedy film ''One Two Three'' opposite Upen Patel. This too had an unsuccessful run at the box office. The same year, she reprise her role in the second installment of ''Sarkar'' film series, ''Sarkar Raj''. The sequel also became critical and commercial success.

Bigg Boss and further success

She participated in the television reality show ''Bigg Boss 7'' and became the 1st runner-up. She was later seen as one of the judges in the stand-up comedy show ''Gangs of Haseepur''. In 2016, Tanishaa participated in ''Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi 7'' and became a finalist.

Bigg Boss and further work (2013–present)

She was later seen as one of the judges in the stand-up comedy show ''Gangs of Haseepur''. In 2016, she participated in ''Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi 7'' and became a finalist. She participated as a contestant on Sony TV's dance reality show '' Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 11'' where she finished in 13th place.