Around the time Phir Milenge happened to Mukherjee in Hindi films, Sekhar Kammula, a relatively new director from the Telugu film industry was in the process of casting for his next Telugu film, Anand. After coming to know about her, Kammula selected her after a screen test.She said that the role of an independent and modern woman, which was just like her own personality, appealed to her.When asked about her thoughts on a total change of working environment from Bollywood to Tollywood, she said that the only difference was with the language and that she was more comfortable working for Anand (2004 film) because the entire crew belonged to same age group.With her being a Bengali and not knowing Telugu,[10] well-known singer and television host, Sunitha lent her voice for the film. After completion of filming, she felt that as a relative newcomer she could not have asked for more, but thought that she could have performed better.Despite her thoughts, the film won 6 prestigious 2004 Nandi Awards bestowed by the Government of Andhra Pradesh. Among these, Mukherjee won the Nandi Award for the Best Leading Actress. Upon receiving the award, she said "it is beyond the belief".Besides this, she won a couple of awards for being the best debutant actress of the year.
