You can’t hurry Kareena Kapoor Khan

There is nothing remotely imperious about Kareena Kapoor Khan. Over a grainy Zoom call, I see the actor perched in a room lit by a warm lamp and a painting of waves lapping over coastal rocks serving as her backdrop. It’s 11 am, and she looks gloriously uncurated. Hair in a bun. Black tee. All smiles. No makeup. No airs. No entourage. A wedding ring—probably the price of my Mumbai apartment—the only reminder of the regal life offscreen. And yet her otherworldliness remains.

It’s been 25 years since we first saw her up close—as Nazneen Ahmed in JP Dutta’s 2000 drama Refugee, opposite Abhishek Bachchan. Kareena was just 20, but we all knew she was already a bona fide A-list movie star, because, even then, her presence was undeniable. In the years that followed, we got used to her wide doe eyes, her defined jawbones and her generous smile. She entered the pop culture hall of fame as the unstoppable Poo from Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (2001), spouting self-love idioms two decades before Gen Z adopted them. Then, in 2007, came Geet, the effervescent firecracker from Jab We Met.

It wasn’t always easy. She was, after all, an actor who came of age during Bollywood’s peak era of harsh objectification. Quite often, her private life was the subject of entertainment-news headlines. Of course, there were the film-family comparisons that you’d expect, but tabloids seemed to even track her weight like some tally of national importance. Back then, her size-zero figure sparked as much buzz as Ozempic does today—though it’s the kind of chatter she wouldn’t lose a minute’s sleep over now.

Among Kareena’s rarefied talents is her ability to play a carefree, astrology-obsessed, head-in-the-clouds lead with the same ease that she would for a deep-rooted role, loaded with gravitas. Time and again, she has played a hardened cop (Angrezi Medium), a street-smart sex worker (Chameli), a young widow (Dev), and a do-gooder doctor (Udta Punjab)—all unrecognisable portrayals in which she has continued to push herself and her audiences into brave new territory. “Everyone sees Poo and Geet as joyous characters because they are so vibrant, so alive. But for me, true joy comes from reinvention. From challenging myself,” says the 44-year-old who has cemented her legacy as a fourth-generation actor from the Kapoor clan.

Everyone sees Poo and Geet as joyous characters because they are so vibrant, so alive. But for me, true joy comes from reinvention. From challenging myself.”

Throughout, in between lighter, mainstream films there have been the darker, meatier roles—the Vishal Bhardwaj-directed Omkara (2006); Jaane Jaan (2022), an adaptation of the Keigo Higashino bestselling novel The Devotion of Suspect X; and the most recent The Buckingham Murders—that allowed her to peel back her own layers. Kareena seems to inhabit each of these characters—physically, vocally and emotionally. “That’s the joy of being an actor. To dig inside yourself and find something new,” she shares.

Fans often encounter this dichotomy when they obsessively scroll through her Instagram page and between the parade of red-carpet images and campaign photoshoots they spot something refreshingly off-script. A gem I came across? Kareena in a nightsuit, laughing with her mother-in-law, Sharmila Tagore, in hair curlers. That’s the real Kareena: less carefully curated icon, more joyful chaos. She’s that hard-to-find yet eminently relatable star in the world of entertainment. Her IG feed is a mood board of contradictions, and that’s exactly what makes it magnetic to her 13.4 million followers. One day the actor is promoting a fragrance, the next day it’s a messaging on vaccination from the ambassador of UNICEF. Right next to a shaky selfie with Jeh piggybacking on her at bedtime is a hyper-produced magazine cover shoot. And between all this are photos of indulgent meals, BTS videos, snapshots of her girl gang, and even a cheeky thirst trap of Saif (bless her for those)! In an era of algorithm-pleasing sameness, Kareena’s digital presence is a dopamine hit of sweet surprises.

Kareena is Indian cinema’s most enduring and joyous face, but her work and a good meal—more specifically her mother’s Sindhi curry and aloo tuk—are what it takes to make her happy. “Acting has always been a passion for me. Acting and food—that’s what brings me joy,” she shares.

It should; Kareena has been acting for more than half her life. “I’ve had the privilege of doing so many different kinds of cinema, so many roles. And even now, I don’t feel like it’s enough,” she says about her hard-won filmography and maturity on screen. “I never want to feel like I’ve done everything.”

But now, at 44, she is re-evaluating her career trajectory. “Doing less is doing more,” says the actor who, until a few years ago, would average five or six films a year. To be clear, she still loves her job, but slowing down means signing fewer projects and roles with more depth.

Doing less is doing more... It’s about choosing the right roles, ones that challenge me and excite me. I want to preserve my energy, my talent, myself.”

Last year it was two mainstream movies—Crew and Singham Again. This year, it’s Meghna Gulzar’s crime drama, Daayra, where she stars opposite Malayalam star Prithviraj. There’s also a lot of buzz around a Netflix docuseries with her close ones. “It’s not about quantity anymore. It’s about choosing the right roles, ones that challenge me and excite me,” she says. “I want to preserve my energy, my talent, myself.”

Her bandwidth is sacred now. No chaos, no performative busy-ness, no need to prove anything to anyone. Mornings are her new luxury. “The first hour of my day? That’s mine,” she says with a possessiveness one usually reserves for a vintage Chanel bag. “A cup of coffee. Some jazz. A crime novel.” She’s partial to British murder mysteries—Agatha Christie, Midsomer Murders, the kind of stories that offer both escape and order.

If her mornings are about solitude, her weekends are about connection. And food. Glorious, unapologetic food. COVID, Kareena attests, shifted something. “It taught us the joy of doing things together. Of slowing down. Of finding joy in the mundane.”

The mundane can one day look like wood-fired pizzas and the next day Malabar-style stew in what she calls “the happiest part of the house”—her brick-stoned kitchen. “We love cooking together as a family. Saif, the kids, me—we’re all in the kitchen,” she says. There the Kapoor-Khan household isn’t just mixing spices; it’s mixing cultures. “Saif is obsessed with Kerala cuisine,” Kareena shares, “He’s always trying out new recipes—idiyappams, coconut-based stews, everything. Me? I need my one proper Indian meal a day. Non-negotiable.” Her food obsession is amply documented in the upcoming Netflix show, Dining With the Kapoors, where Kareena and folks approach food like it’s a family heirloom.

I’m happy I’m not chasing anymore... I see younger actors running from one thing to the next, and I just think: I’m glad I’m past that.”

In her twenties Kareena was everywhere—on red carpets, magazine covers, film sets, and gossip columns. Today, she’s choosing stillness over spotlight. It isn’t about performance anymore—it’s about presence. Not the chase but the choice. Not being seen but being at peace. “I’m happy I’m not chasing anymore,” she says on an exhale. “I see younger actors running from one thing to the next, and I just think: I’m glad I’m past that.”

Her routine too is intentional, almost monastic: dinner by 6 pm, lights out by 9:30 pm, morning workouts before the world wakes up. “My friends know not to expect me at parties. And they respect that,” she shrugs. “They know I’ll be watching Schitt’s Creek on low volume!” she shares. I laugh with her—because I get it. As a woman navigating the same season of life, raising kids the same age, I know that kind of joy: quiet, hard-earned, and completely underrated.

If there’s one thing Kareena doesn’t negotiate with, it’s movement. “If I don’t work out, I’m in a bad mood,” she says. “Post-COVID, I realised how important fitness is—not for vanity, but for well-being,” adds the actor, who fits in yoga sessions, strength training, or a simple walk every day. “It’s my mood stabiliser, my anchor.”

In an industry that still treats youth as currency and equates worth with waistlines, Kareena’s take is radically sane. “Vanity was never my driver. I’ve always embraced my skin, my body, my years. But movement? That’s sacred.”

As we wrap up, I ask her the inevitable: When she looks back at completing 25 years in an industry built on applause and amnesia, what makes her content? The awards? The accolades? The iconic roles that defined an era? “The camera,” she says, without skipping a beat. “The ability to perform—that’s my greatest joy. The craft is my weapon.” There’s no boast in her voice, just conviction. “The real measure of an actor isn’t Instagram likes or red-carpet appearances—it’s what you bring to the camera.”

In a world obsessed with curated joy and airbrushed bliss, Kareena Kapoor Khan reminds us that real joy doesn’t need a stage. Sometimes, it’s a messy kitchen, a bad-hair day, a lukewarm cup of coffee—and the courage to stay in your own light.

Editorial Direction: Megha Mahindru, Ridhima Sapre. Photography: Ashish Shah. Fashion and Creative Direction: Priyanka Kapadia. Visual and Creative Direction: Jay Modi. Art and Creative Direction: Harry Iyer. Bookings Editor: Nikita Moses. Style Lead: Naheed Driver. Makeup: Mitesh Rajani. Hair: Mickey Contractor. Set Design: Bindiya Chhabria. Assistants: Kashish Jain (Style), Shamu Kandara (Makeup), Rishita Hindocha (Hair). Production: Imran Khatri Production, Radhika Chemburkar. Management: Versis Entertainment, Naina Sawhney. PR: Think Talkies