Following the failure of "Baabul", Yash Raj Films cast Mukerji in Siddharth Anand's family drama "Ta Ra Rum Pum" in the role of a racing driver's (Saif Ali Khan) wife and the mother of two. She was excited to play the part of a mother for the first time, and modelled her character after her own mother. Released in 2007, the film was a financial success, but received mixed reactions from critics. Khalid Mohamed hailed Mukerji's performance as "near flawless" but Rajeev Masand thought that neither she nor Khan "are able to make much of an impression because their characters are so unidimensional and boring." The drama "Laaga Chunari Mein Daag" from director Pradeep Sarkar starred Mukerji as a young woman who is forced to moonlight as a prostitute to fend for her family. Her portrayal earned her a seventh Best Actress nomination at Filmfare, but the film had poor critical and financial returns. Shubhra Gupta of "The Indian Express" noted that Mukerji was responsible for "hold the film together, even if her part, both as the ingénue and the hooker, doesn't have freshness".