Kareena Kapoor
Early Life
Kareena Randhir Kapoor was born on September 21st, 1980 in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India into the famous Kapoor family. She is the youngest daughter of actors Randhir and Babita and the sister of actress Karisma Kapoor. She is also the granddaughter of actor Raj Kapoor, great-granddaughter of Prithviraj Kapoor and the niece of actor Rishi Kapoor as well as being related to a number of other lesser know actors and actresses. Her parents were divorced while Kareena was still a child which led to her mother moving from the family home to Lokhandwala where she raised her two daughters alone. Kapoor attended Jamnabai Narsee School in Mumbai before progressing to Welham Girls Boarding School in Dehradun. She then studied commerce for two years at the Mithibai College in Mumbai. After attending a summer course studying microcomputers at Harvard University in the U.S. she enrolled at the Government Law College in Mumbai. However she left after only one year to pursue a career in acting and enrolled at the Kishore Namit Kapoor's Acting Institute. Career Highlights Kapoor made her movie debut in 2000 in J.P. Dutta's drama Refugee, set during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. Kapoor was praised for her performance as Naaz, a Bangladeshi refuge who falls in love with the man who is helping her escape the fighting. The film performed surprisingly well at the box office considering the two leads, Kapoor and Abhishek Bachchan, were both making their film debuts and was the fifth highest grossing Indian film of 2000. Refugee earned Kapoor the Best Female Debut Award with Bachchan taking the Male Award at the 2001 Filmfare award ceremony. On the back of her hugely successful debut Kapoor was in big demand and would appear in five movies throughout 2001. Kapoor's first role of the year was in the romantic drama Mujhe Kucch Kehna Hai as the love interest of Tusshar Kapoor. The film was a moderate success at the box office as was her next two efforts Yaadein and Ajnabee. Later in the year, she starred in Santosh Sivan's period epic Asoka, a fictionalized account of the life of Indian emperor Ashoka the Great. Kapoor portrayed the character of Kaurwaki, a princess of Kalinga with whom Ashoka falls in love. Asoka was screened at the Venice Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival with Kapoor receiving numerous good reviews from the critics. She also received a nomination for Best Actress at the Filmfare Awards but lost out to Kajol. Kapoor's final release of 2001, Karan Johar’s Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, saw her star as part of a ensemble cast including Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan, Shahrukh Khan, Kajol and Hrithik Roshan. Kapoor’s portrayal of university student Poo, a role that saw her return to England for filming, was very well received by the critics and earned her a Filmfare Best Supporting Actress nomination. The movie was a massive hit at the domestic box office coming second only to Gadar: Ek Prem Katha as the highest grossing film of the year in India as well as the second biggest Bollywood success of all time in the overseas market, earning US$ 7.46 million worldwide. Kapoor’s first release of 2002 was Mujhse Dosti Karoge!, directed by Kunal Kohli. The romantic drama tells the story of a love triangle of three friends played by Hrithik Roshan, Rani Mukerji and Kapoor. The film was heavily hyped in the Indian media before its release due to it’s A-List cast but did not perform as well as expected at the box office. The film however did perform slightly better in the U.S. and U.K. Kapoor’s only other release of the year was Jeena Sirf Merre Liye, in which she was again paired with Tusshar Kapoor, was also panned by the critics.
2003 saw a unexpected slump in her career. She featured in four movies, Talaash: The Hunt Begins..., Khushi, Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon, and J.P. Dutta's four hour Kargil war epic LOC Kargil all of which proved critically and commercially unsuccessful in India. Kapoor was criticised in some parts of the media for a lack of depth and was accused of becoming “typecast”. 2004 Would, however, prove to be the most successful of her career seeing her star in a string of more demanding roles. Her first appearance of the year came in Sudhir Mishra’s Chameli opposite Rahul Bose. Kapoor played the role of Chameli, a young prostitute who meets with a widowed banker by chance and follows her attempts to win his affection. Although the takings at the box office were only moderate, Kapoor's moving performance was widely praised and earned her the Filmfare Special Performance Award. Later that year she appeared in Govind Nihalani's critically acclaimed film Dev, set during the 2002 Gujarat riots. Kapoor played the role of Aaliya, a fictional version of Zaheera Sheikh the key witness in India's notorious “Best Bakery Case“. Her performance garnered more positive reviews and earned her a Filmfare Critics Award for Best Performance. 2004 also saw her cast in her first villainous role in the thriller Fida as well as parts in Yuva, Aitraaz and Hulchul. Dharmesh Darshan’s drama Bewafaa was Kapoor’s first film of 2005. She starred as Anjali, Akshay Kumar’s love interest, in the movie. Despite a well received performance from Kapoor the film was a surprise failure at the box office. Later in the year, she made a well-received appearance in Priyadarshan's romantic drama Kyon Ki a film inspired by the plot of the popular novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest written by Ken Kesey. Kapoor plays the role of Dr. Tanvi Khurana who takes care of a mentally ill patient, played by Salman Khan, who later begin a relationship. Kapoor’s final film of the year was the romantic drama Dosti: Friends Forever. While only a moderate success in India, the film was the highest grossing Bollywood film of 2005 in the U.K. In 2006, Kapoor starred in the Bollywood adaptation of Once Upon A Crime, 36 China Town. The thriller follows the police investigation to find the killer of a wealthy casino owner in which Kapoor is a suspect. This was followed by the comedy Chup Chup Ke, both films performed reasonably well a the box office. Her biggest success of the year came with her portrayal of the Shakespearean character of Desdemona in Omkara, a adaptation of William Shakespeare's Othello. The film premiered at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival with Kapoor's performance earning excellent reviews from the critics. The following year she won her fourth Filmfare Award and first Star Screen Award. Kapoor’s only film of 2007 saw her star opposite Shahid Kapoor, for the fourth time, in Imtiaz Ali's romantic comedy Jab We Met. Kapoor plays a feisty Punjabi girl, Geet Dhillon, who falls for a successful Mumbai businessman after meeting by chance on a overnight train journey. The film was received favourably by critics and went on to become a major hit at the Indian box office. Kapoor won several awards for her performance, including a Filmfare Best Actress Award and her second Star Screen Award for Best Actress. The same year saw a cameo appearance in Kya Love Story Hai as herself in the song It's Rocking. Kapoor’s first appearance of 2008 was alongside Akshay Kumar, Saif Ali Khan, and Anil Kapoor in the action-thriller Tashan. Kapoor plays the role of Pooja Singh who with Khan’s character steal money from her boss only later to find out he has ties with gangsters. The movie was considered somewhat of a failure despite being named the "Most Awaited Movie of 2008" by users of indiafm.com. Kapoor next starred in Rohit Shetty's comedy Golmaal Returns, the sequel to the 2006 film Golmaal. She plays Ekta, a very suspicious wife convinced that her husband is cheating on her. Despite mixed reviews the movie was a major financial success, with revenues of over Rs 500 million at the domestic box office. Kapoor also provided the voice for the character of Laila in the Yash Raj Films and Walt Disney Pictures animated film Roadside Romeo.
At the beginning of 2009 Kapoor began filming for the romantic drama Kambakkht Ishq alongside Akshay Kumar. It is to be the first Indian film in history to be shot within Universal Studios Hollywood, California and will reportedly feature several cameo appearances from Hollywood actors Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Denise Richards. She has also completed filming Prem Soni's drama Main Aur Mrs. Khanna alongside Salman Khan which is due for release in mid-2009. Kareena Kapoor Filmography 2000 - Refugee - Nazneen "Naaz" M. Ahmed 2001 - Mujhe Kucch Kehna Hai - Pooja Saxena 2001 - Yaadein - Isha Singh Puri 2001 - Ajnabee - Priya Malhotra 2001 - Asoka - Kaurwaki 2001 - Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham - Pooja "Poo" Sharma 2002 - Mujhse Dosti Karoge! - Tina Kapoor 2002 - Jeena Sirf Merre Liye - Pooja/Pinky 2003 - Talaash: The Hunt Begins... - Tina 2003 - Khushi - Khushi Singh (Lali) 2003 - Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon - Sanjana 2003 - LOC Kargil - Simran 2004 - Chameli - Chameli 2004 - Yuva - Mira 2004 - Dev - Aaliya 2004 - Fida - Neha Mehra 2004 - Aitraaz - Priya Saxena/Malhotra 2004 - Hulchul - Anjali 2005 - Bewafaa - Anjali Sahai 2005 - Kyon Ki - Dr. Tanvi Khurana 2005 - Dosti: Friends Forever - Anjali 2006 - 36 China Town - Priya 2006 - Chup Chup Ke - Shruti 2006 - Omkara - Dolly R. Mishra 2006 - Don - The Chase Begins Again - Kamini 2007 - Jab We Met - Geet Dhillon 2008 - Tashan - Pooja Singh 2008 - Roadside Romeo - Laila(voice) 2008 - Golmaal Returns - Ekta Kareena Kapoor Trivia Kareena Kapoor Links Babe Invasion | Bestzilla | Celebrity Link | Chickipedia | Famous Hookups | Famous Why | Free Ones | IMDB | Net Glimse | Perfect People | Star Pages | Utopian Vision |
