Making her acting debut with Refugee (2000), for which she won a Filmfare Best Debut Award, Kapoor had her first commercial success with her second release, Mujhe Kucch Kehna Hai (2001). Her performance as a cosmetic beauty in Karan Johar’s melodramatic Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (2001) was praised and the film turned out to be her biggest commercial success so far. After that, Kareena starred in many films without much box office success. She was criticized for doing the same kind of roles in her films. As a result of this, she began taking on more serious and different roles. Her portrayal of a sex-worker in Sudhir Mishra’s Chameli (2004) proved to be the turning point in her career. Her performances in critically acclaimed films like Dev (2004) and Omkara (2006) were praised and fetched her two Filmfare Critics Award for Best
Actress.
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.
Early life
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.
Kapoor had planned to debut in Rakesh Roshan’s Kaho Naa… Pyaar Hai but left the project a few days into the filming. She made her debut in J.P. Dutta’s moderately successful Refugee in 2000 with Abhishek Bachchan and won critical acclaim for portraying the role of a Pakistani girl. The role earned her a Filmfare Best Debut Award and the film went on to become the fifth highest grossing film of that year.
Breakthrough
In 2001, 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. Her next release, Ajnabee fared moderately well and became one of the highest grossing films of that year. Success followed for her with films like Mujhe Kucch Kehna Hai and Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham. The former became one of the biggest hits of that year and the latter became the second highest grossing film of 2001. These successes 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
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. She also gained critical acclaim for her de-glamorized role in the critically acclaimed Dev, for which she won the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Performance, and her negative role in Fida. Her other films in 2004 included the moderately successful Aitraaz and the semi-hit Hulchul.
She followed through with moderately successful films like Bewafaa and Dosti: Friends Forever in 2005. Her performance as an unfaithful woman in the former was well received by critics.
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. In the same year, she also won favorable reviews for her item number in the hit movie Don - The Chase Begins Again.
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.
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