Introduction

Bollywood diva Kareena Kapoor says every actor has different priorities and if she does not like a script, she won’t do the film. She has rejected many films as she is very happy working at her own pace. She further says that after working in the industry for so long, she no longer has to prove anything to anyone.

Early Life

Kareena Kapoor got exposure to Hinduism from her father’s side and Christianity from her mother’s side. According to her, her name Kareena was derived from a book Anna Karenina which her mother was reading while she was pregnant. She describes herself as a naughty child, and an introduction to filming at an early age only spurred her interest in acting. The works of Nargis and Meena Kumari further inspired her. As her father staunchly held the belief that women should not enter films because it clashes with maternal duties & responsibility of women in the family, disputes arose between her parents leading to separation. Kareena’s mother raised the children until Karishma made an entry into filmdom in 1991. Her parents finally reconciled in 2007.

Kareena initially studied at Jamnabai Narsee School in Mumbai before moving on to Welham Girls’ School in Dehradun. She then studied commerce at Mithibai College Mumbai, later did a 3 month course in microcomputers from Harvard University, then enrolled at the Government Law College Mumbai, before finally deciding to take up acting by joining the Film and Television Institute of India at Mumbai.

Rise to Fame

During her training at the film Institute, Kareena got a chance to star in the Rakesh Roshan film Kaho Naa… Pyaar Hai (2000) with Director’s Son Hrithik Roshan. Within a few days of the shooting, she left the project as she thought more prominence would be given to the director’s son. She then went on to star for the JP Dutta’s war drama, Refugee, wherein she portrayed a Bangladeshi girl Naaz in love with the protagonist Abhishek Bachchan. Her performance was highly acclaimed by critics with Bollywood Hungama describing her as a ‘natural performer.’ The film saw moderate success but her performance earned her a Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut. Up next, she acted in the hit movie Mujhe Kucch Kehna Hai in 2001. Her next successful film was Ajnabee again in 2001 wherein the newspaper The Hindu described her as ‘definitely the actress to watch out for.’

She then featured opposite Shah Rukh Khan in Santosh Sivan’s history drama Asoka, which received many positive reviews. The movie was screened at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2001, and Jeff Vice of The Deseret News described her presence as ‘riveting.’ She also won a nomination for Filmfare best actress for Asoka. By then she had become the highest paid Indian actress, earning Rs 15 million (US$ 250,000) per film. Another Filmfare nomination followed her for Best Actress in the film Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Ghum again in 2001.

The year 2004 was a good one for Kareena, as she won a Filmfare award for Best Supporting Actress for the film Chameli, and a Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress in Dev.

By 2006, she won a Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress in the film Omkara. She again won a Filmfare Best Actress Award for Jab We Met in 2007, wherein she played the memorable character of Geet Dhillon. After that, she went on to win nominations for best actress in 2009 films like Kurbaan, and 3 Idiots finally winning a Filmfare Best Supporting Actress title in We Are Family in 2010.

Thereafter, she acted in films like Golmaal 3 (2010), Heroine (2012), Satyagraha (2013), Gori Tere Pyaar Mein (2013).

Her upcoming films include Singham Returns, Happy Ending and Gabbar. In the action film Singham Returns she will play the role of Lady Singham who protects Bajirao Singham played by Ajay Devgan. The movie will feature a song Kuch Toh Hua Hai.

She has also signed on to star in Kabir Khan's Bajrangi Bhaijaan with Salman Khan.

Awards

• Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut, Film: Refugee (2002)

• Filmfare Award for Special Performance, Film: Chameli (2004)

• Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress, Film: Dev (2004)

• Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress, Film: Omkara (2006)

• Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress Film: Jab We Met (2007)

• Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress Film: We Are Family (2010)

TV Shows

In Punar Vivah (2012) Episode# 154 aired on Zee TV as Mahi Arora for promoting her movie Heroine.

C.I.D. (2012) in the Episode Heroine Ka Khatra aired on Sony Entertainment Television

She visited Indian jawans (troops) in Rajasthan, for a special Holi weekend episode of NDTV's reality show Jai Jawaan.