 The year 2001 was a disappointing one for Mukerji. In a review for her first release of the year, Chori Chori Chupke Chupke, a drama based on surrogate childbirth, film critic Sukanya Verma found Mukerji to be "handicapped with a role that doesn 't give her much scope besides weeping and sobbing" and preferred the "meatier" role of her co-star Preity Zinta. In Bas Itna Sa Khwaab Hai and Nayak: The Real Hero, films that failed to garner praise, Mukerji played the love interests of Abhishek Bachchan and Anil Kapoor respectively. In a review for the latter, Sarita Tanwar wrote that "[Mukerji] has very little to do except being part of some magnificently picturised songs".
