Aniruddha Guha of "Daily News and Analysis" described Mukerji's performance in the 2011 film "No One Killed Jessica" as "one of her best performances till date". Co-starring Vidya Balan, the film was Mukerji's first commercial success since "Ta Ra Rum Pum", and was especially noted for being so in the absence of a male star. The film was based on the Jessica Lal murder case, and featured Mukerji as a fictionalised foul-mouthed journalist who is deeply involved with the case. She has described how different the role was from the ones she had previously played, saying, "I actually had to play a man!" Certain critics, however, were critical of her performance, including Anupama Chopra of NDTV, who called her role, "the fatal, false note in "No One Killed Jessica"," arguing that "the character is written superficially and Rani's portrayal of her is equally banal. It's all about externals. She argues a lot and proudly labels herself a bitch but her hair stays perfectly in place and in the end, she even gets to do a super-hero-like slow motion walk." Even so, the role earned her a third Best Supporting Actress trophy at Filmfare.