It’s been 25 years since we first saw Kareena Kapoor Khan up close. She 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.
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.
These days, Kareena’s rarefied talents see her balance light-hearted roles with those loaded with gravitas. She played a street-smart sex worker (‘Chameli’), a single mom (‘Jaane Jaan’) and a hardened cop (‘Buckingham Murders’)—all unrecognisable portrayals in which the actor 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 yourself, digging inwards and finding something new,” says the 44-year-old actor. Meghna Pant chats with the Bollywood icon who has cemented her legacy as a fourth-generation actor.
