Rani Mukerji comes from a film-oriented family of Bengali origin. Her father, Ram Mukherjee, is a retired director and one of the founders of "Filmalaya Studios". Her mother, Krishna Mukherjee, was a playback singer. Her brother, Raj Mukherjee is a film producer, now turned director. Her maternal aunt, Debashree Roy, was a Bengali-film actress and her cousin, Kajol, is a Bollywood actress.
Mukerji is a trained Odissi dancer, and began learning the dance in tenth grade. Mukerji studied at Maneckjee Cooper High School in Juhu, and later enrolled at Mithibai College in Mumbai.