In 1994, director Salim Khan approached Mukerji to play the lead female role in his directorial, "Aa Gale Lag Jaa". Her father disapproved of a full-time career in film at such a young age, so she rejected the offer. At age 18, Mukerji experimented with acting by playing the leading role in her father's Bengali film "Biyer Phool" (1996). The film starred Prosenjit and Indrani Haldar and narrates the story of two sisters; Mukerji played the younger sibling of Haldar's character. Soon after, Khan approached her with another film offer to play the leading role in the social drama "Raja Ki Aayegi Baraat", after Mamta Kulkarni refused the offer. Mukerji accepted the role due to her mother's insistence that she continue to pursue acting on an experimental basis. Before she began work on it, Mukerji trained at Roshan Taneja's acting institute. She portrayed a rape victim who is forced to marry her rapist in "Raja Ki Aayegi Baraat", which also released in 1996. Although the film was a commercial failure, Mukerji's performance earned her a special recognition trophy at the annual Screen Awards ceremony. Following the film's poor showing at the box office, Mukerji returned to college to complete her education. However, inspired by her cousin Kajol's success in Bollywood, she decided to pursue a full-time career in films.