During her career years, she has appeared in many films, majority of them bringing her critical acclaim rather than commercial success. Despite this, she retains popularity and is regarded as one of the most versatile actresses of the industry.
Career:
Early life, until 2000:
Kareena attended Jamnabai Narsee School in Mumbai and then went to Welham Girls Boarding School in Dehradun. After studying commerce at Mithibai College, Vile Parle for two years, Kapoor went to Harvard for summer school and took a course in microcomputers and information technology for three months.Set on pursuing an acting career, she then took an admission in Government Law College at Churchgate to become a lawyer. After completing one year there, she went back to her initial plan of joining the film industry, where she attended the Kishore Namit Kapoor acting school.
Planning to make her debut opposite Hrithik Roshan in Rakesh Roshan's Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai (2000), Kapoor left the project a few days into the filming and made her debut with J.P. Dutta’s moderately successful Refugee (2000) opposite Abhishek Bachchan, which became the fifth highest grossing film of the year.[ The portrayal of a Pakistani girl won her critical accliam and earned her a Filmfare Best Debut Award. Critic Taran Adarsh from indiafm.com noted, "Kareena Kapoor has a magnetic personality, which will make the viewer fall in love with her instantly. On a scale of 10, Kareena's performance deserves 9 marks, dialogue delivery 8 and overall personality 10. What surprises you is the ease with which she emotes the most difficult of scenes, that too against experienced performers. There's no denying the fact that she is a natural performer who is very camera friendly."
Breakthrough, 2001 - 2003:
Satish Kaushik's Mujhe Kucch Kehna Hai, which became one of the biggest hits of the year, was Kareena's first release in 2001. Next, films like Yaadein and Asoka followed for her which did poorly at the box office. However her breakthrough performance of a princess in the latter was acclaimed and earned her a Filmfare nomination for Best Actress. A critic wrote, "Kareena Kapoor looks beautiful in the role of Kaurwaki and she has done a wonderful job too. But her costumes were quite unnecessarily revealing." Her next release, Ajnabee fared moderately well and became one of the highest grossing films of that year.
Her last release of the year was Karan Johar's melodramatic Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, which became the second highest grossing film of the year and one of the biggest hit overseas. Her performance as a cosmetic beauty was applauded and earned her a nomination for Best Supporting Actress at the Filmfare ceremony. Taran Adarsh noted, "Kareena Kapoor is one of the main the highlights of the film. She provides the much-needed fun and entertainment in the second half; her performance will be loved by the youth. Playing a cosmetic beauty to the hilt, she is simply adorable." These successes and accomplishments established her as one of the industry's most successful stars.
Kapoor was in great demand after these successes and signed many new movies, but most of them failed to do well.Even much-hyped films like Mujhse Dosti Karoge! (2002) and Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon (2003) that came from big banners like Yash Raj Films and Rajshri Productions failed to do well in India, but generated decent business overseas. Many critics criticized her for doing the same kind of roles in her films, which led to her attempting different types of roles in the following years.
Turning Point, 2004 - present:
In 2004, Kapoor began working with art film directors and doing more serious roles that brought her critical acclaim rather than commercial success. Her role of a prostitute in the 2004 film, Chameli proved to be a turning point in her career and made critics take notice of her once again, earning her the Filmfare Special Performance Award. Film critic Subhash K. Jha wrote "Kareena goes way beyond anyone's expectations, including most decidedly her own, to deliver an all-time great performance, on a par with Nargis in Mehboob Khan's "Mother India" (1957), Meena Kumari in "Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam" (1962) and Shabana Azmi in Mahesh Bhatt's "Arth" (1982). Kareena flashes an intuitive brilliance that comes to movies very, very rarely indeed."
She gained critical acclaim for her de-glamorized role in the critically acclaimed Dev, for which she won the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Performance. A critic wrote about her, "Kareena Kapoor is first-rate. Sporting a deglamorized look, the actress takes a giant leap with this film. Her scene with Amitabh Bachchan [when the latter asks for witnesses to come forward] is an example of superb acting." She also received positive reviews for her negative role in Fida. Anjali from indiainfo.com wrote, "Kareena has also done a great job. After Chameli and Dev earlier this year, she evolves further as an actress. She has portrayed the parts where she is racked by guilt very well."
Later that year she was seen in the moderately successful Aitraaz along with Akshay Kumar and Priyanka Chopra. The same year saw Kapoor venture into her first comic role in the semi-hit Hulchul, for which she was praised. Smitha Nambiar wrote, "Kareena's comic timing is fascinating. Absolutely no room for complains!" Another critic wrote, "Kareena Kapoor looks ethereal and delivers a highly competent performance. Although she doesn't get a chance to exhibit talent in the post-interval portions, her performance in the first half continues to linger in your memory even after the show has concluded."
In 2005, she starred in Dharmesh Darshan's Bewafaa, essaying the role of an unfaithful woman. Although the film failed to do well, her performance was well received by critics. Taran Adarsh wrote about her performance, "BEWAFAA is embellished with fine performances, with Kareena Kapoor topping the list. This is Kareena's film all the way and the talented actress knows how to absorb a meaty role like this. She looks stunning, emotes with complete maturity and delivers a knockout performance."
36 China Town was Kareena's first release in 2006 followed by Chup Chup Ke. Both films managed to do moderately well at the box office. Her performance as Desdemona in the Indian adaptation of William Shakespeare's Othello, Omkara was praised, earning her a Filmfare Critics Award for Best Performance and a Star Screen Award for Best Actress. Her performance in the film also landed her various nominations for Best Actress at different award ceremonies including the Filmfare Awards. Critic Naresh Kumar Deoshi wrote, "Kareena Kapoor once again shows her acting prowess in playing a role that has no glamour but lots of substance. She brings out the innocence and the vulnerability of her character."
In the same year, she also won favorable reviews for her item number in the hit movie Don - The Chase Begins Again. Her forthcoming release, Imtiaz Ali's Jab We Met (2007) is expected to release on October 26, 2007.
Personal life:Born into an old and influential film family of Punjabi origin in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, Kareena's name was inspired by the book, Anna Karenina. Kapoor is the grand-daughter of Raj Kapoor, who acted in and directed many successful movies and is also the great grand-daughter of Prithviraj Kapoor. Kareena was born to actors Randhir Kapoor and Babita, who had divorced when she was still young. Her uncle is well-known and popular actor, Rishi Kapoor. Her sister, Karisma Kapoor, is also a popular actress. Other living relatives include maternal aunt Sadhana, and cousins Ranbir Kapoor and Nikhil Nanda.
Kareena is currently dating actor Shahid Kapoor, the son of veteran actor Pankaj Kapoor. Gossip columnists have linked her to a number of her co-stars, but she has strongly denied all these rumors.
In 2005, Kareena was in the news when onlookers with mobile phone cameras filmed her kissing her boyfriend Shahid Kapoor and released it to the news.
Commitments:
Contributions:
In February 2005, along with other Bollywood stars, Kareena performed at the HELP! Telethon Concert to help raise money for the victims of Tsunami.
In March 2005, Kareena visited the desert heartland of Rajasthan to boost the morales of the jawans. It was for a special Holy weekend episode on the Jai Jawan show, where entertainers and stars visit Indian troops in far-flung regions to encourage them along with the NDTV team.
She also performed at the "Marco Ricci Each One Reach One Benefit Concert", a fundraiser for the World Youth Peace Summit.
Kareena donated her prize money, her half-share of 50 lakh rupees from her 2007 appearance on the season finale of Kaun Banega Crorepati with Priyanka Chopra, to St. Anthony's Old Age Home and Mount Mary's Bandra in support of its welfare activities.
Stage shows:
Kareena set on her first world tour in 2002. The Heartthrobs Concert, which had her perform alongside stars like Hrithik Roshan, Karisma Kapoor, Arjun Rampal, and Aftab Shivdasani went on to do very well.
In her latest tour, the Rockstars Concert of May 2006, she performed alongside Salman Khan, Zayed Khan, John Abraham, Shahid Kapoor, Esha Deol and Mallika Sherawat.
In the media:
Despite not having that many hits to her credit, Kareena maintains popularity.Majority of her films have done better at the overseas box office (the U.K., Canada, and the U.S.) than they did in the Indian domestic market.
Kapoor was the only actress that featured among the highest tax payers of 2006-07. Kareena was also ranked fourth on the list of Filmfare's "Top Actresses" list (2003-2005) and sixth later on (2006).
In 2004, Kapoor was featured in the list of Rediff's "Bollywood's Most Beautiful Actresses." She also featured in the list of Rediff's "Bollywood's Hottest Heroines", Rediff's "Bollywood's Best Dressed Women" and Rediff's "Women of Many Faces." In 2007, Kapoor was listed #4 on the list of Indiatimes' "Top 10 Hottest Actresses of Bollywood" and was crowned as the winner of PETA's "Cutest Vegetarian Celebrities" online poll with actor, R. Madhavan.
In 2005, Kareena appeared on the first season of Karan Johar's talk show Koffee with Karan with Rani Mukerji. She later appeared on the second season of the show with her sister Karisma Kapoor and her boyfriend Shahid Kapoor in 2007. She also appeared as a guest judge alongside actress Priyanka Chopra on Indian Idol 2.
For the 2006 finale of Manish Malhotra's fashion display, Fashion Week 2006, Kareena modeled and walked the ramp with her boyfriend Shahid Kapoor and actress Urmila Matondkar.
Awards and honors:
Filmfare Awards
Winner
Star Screen Awards
Winner
