By 2000, Mukerji wanted to avoid typecasting as a "standard Hindi film heroine" and thus decided to portray more challenging roles in addition to the archetypical glamorous lead. In "Badal" and "Bichhoo", two male-centric action dramas (both starring Bobby Deol), she played roles that were met with little acclaim from critics. A supporting role in Kamal Haasan's bilingual film "Hey Ram" proved more rewarding. The film was a partly fictionalised account of Mahatma Gandhi's assassination and Mukerji played a Bengali school teacher who is raped and murdered during communal riots in Calcutta. Having only portrayed glamorous roles thus far, she was challenged by Haasan's insistence on realism and to appear on screen without wearing make-up; she believed that the experience changed her approach to acting. The controversial subject matter of "Hey Ram" led to poor box office earnings, but the film was critically acclaimed and selected as India's official entry to the Oscars. After starring in the romantic comedies "Hadh Kar Di Aapne" and "Kahin Pyaar Na Ho Jaaye", Mukerji starred alongside Salman Khan and Preity Zinta in the romantic comedy "Har Dil Jo Pyar Karega", which earned her a Best Supporting Actress nomination at Filmfare. Padmaraj Nair of "Screen" found her role to be "too meagre for her to prove herself" but added that "she is quite adequate in whatever scenes she has been given".