Mukerji established herself by starring in several commercially successful romantic films, including "Chalte Chalte" (2003), "Hum Tum" (2004), "Veer-Zaara" (2004), and "Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna" (2006), and the crime comedy "Bunty Aur Babli" (2005). She also gained praise for playing an abused wife in the political thriller "Yuva" (2004), a deaf and blind woman in the drama "Black" (2005) and a Rajasthani bride in the female-led fantasy "Paheli" (2005). Mukerji then collaborated with Yash Raj Films on several unsuccessful films which led critics to bemoan her choice of roles. This changed when she played a headstrong journalist in the thriller "No One Killed Jessica" (2011), and further success came for her starring roles in the thrillers "" (2012), "Mardaani" (2014) and its sequel "Mardaani 2" (2019), and the comedy-drama "Hichki" (2018). The lattermost emerged as her highest-grossing release.