Kareena Kapoor Khan, no doubt has carried forward the legacy of Bollywood’s 1st ever filmy family namely that of the Kapoor Khandaan. In fact right from her debut making movie ‘Refugee’ with Jr. Big B to her last released film ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’ with Salman Khan she has proved her histrionic prowess with each successive movies that she has starred in. That apart she has undauntingly climbed the ladder of talent & success, step by step, even after tying the knot with the Jr. Nawab, namely Saif Ali Khan. Besides she feels that marriage has made absolutely no difference to her career and she is now ready to spring surprises galore in the Bollywoodian arena.
On reflecting back on her journey in Bollywood Kareena Kapoor Khan avers, “Of course my journey in Bollywood was not a smooth sailing in the initial stages of my filmic career. But then slowly & steadily I gained a strong foothold with films like ‘Dev’ & ‘Chameli’, my first ever off beat roles, ‘Jab We Met’, ‘Bodyguard’ & ‘3 Idiots’ to name just 5 films. Yet I feel that I have a lot more surprises in store.”
Continuing further she states, “My marriage to Saif has really made no difference to my career as unlike other married actresses in the past I was not forced to take a backseat or even forced to switch to character roles (Read mother’s role). In fact now I am offered the meatiest roles, that I can really sink my teeth into, of my career.”
She becomes defensive on being pointed that she hardly had any role in the Salman Khan starrer ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’, “But sir you have yourself answered the question on my behalf.
In a commercial set up a heroine is lucky even if she is noticed. I won’t say that in a male dominated Bollywood films a heroine hardly gets a chance to prove her worth. To say so is like making lame excuses. Even otherwise ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’ was more of an Harshali Malhotra (the wonder Kid) film. In fact the entire film centered around her journey from Pakistan to India and then how she is taken back to Pakistan by Bajrangi. So I was more than happy and I really enjoyed the role of a teacher in ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’. Besides it was not a love story but more of a dramatic film and since this was my 1st film with director Kabir Khan I could not refuse the opportunity as I had heard a lot about his excellent directorial skills and I really wanted to work with him regardless of the role that I was offered. But you also cannot take away the fact that Salman is a great person. I am honoured that he took me in his 1st film as a producer. Which actress would say no to a Kabir Khan movie with Salman Khan? I had not worked earlier in any film with Kabir Khan.”
In this regard she further comments, “Yet another temptation of taking up ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’ was that it was shot in Kashmir. You see sir, everyone in my family except me had shot in Kashmir including my father Randhir Kapoor, my mother Babita Kapoor, my sister Karishma Kapoor, Uncle Chintu Kapoor & aunt Neetu Kapoor, grand uncles Shammi Kapoor & Shashi Kapoor and also my cousin, Ranbir Kapoor. Though I had not shot there earlier, when I had reached the venue, I could feel I was there at the Lalit Hotel in Kashmir. It was quite an eerie yet a totally fulfilling experience.”
Kareena then went on to add her feelings about Salman Khan, “Salman is one of the finest co – star that I have ever worked with. ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’ is my hat trick film with Salman after ‘Kyon Ki’ & ‘Bodyguard’. I know Salman from the year 1990 when he was acting in Bhappi Soni’s ‘Nischay’ opposite my sister Karisma. Those days I was very raw & new to films. And in recent times Salman too has become a lot more calmer. In fact he is now mature enough not to show whatever comes his way in his personal life, on his work. Besides he is also one of the finest human being in Bollywood.”
On her striking a balance between the 2 arenas of films namely that of off beat cinema & commercial cinema Kareena has the following explaination to offer, “I have always felt that It is important enough to do commercial films. But on the other hand I have always wanted to strike a balance between off beat films & commercial films. I have done commercial films all my life. The big commercial bonanza films are a part of my blood. But I have also craved to do off beat films. So I think it is as important to do off beat films as it is to do commercial films. As commercial films helps you to earn name & fame whereas off beat films bring you histrionic recognition.”
Off beat films has helped Kareena to garner critical acclaim left, right & centre but notable awards trophies have mostly eluded her. Yet Kareena has no regrets whatsoever, “So what if the most prominent awards statutes have mostly eluded me. I am content with my body of work. What matters to me most is that my work has earned me more than recognition with my family & my fans too. I am indeed considered as one of the most versatile, most dependable & most bankable actress. More than that I am considered an actress of repute who can deliver the goods even in cameo roles. But then sometimes I am also being pulled up for doing cameo roles. Let me give a cliched reply for that, every actress has done such roles in her filmic career as a personal favour and so have I. But I also agree to do such cameo roles which forms an integral part of the film’s storyline. A case in point are films like ‘Gabbar Is Back’, ‘Brothers’ et al.”
That apart Kareena also takes pride in the fact that she has got the opportunity to act with all the Khans that too more than once. She avers, “I have worked with all the Khans, whether it is Salman Khan, Shahrukh Khan or Aamir Khan or for that matter even with Saif in more than 1 film. I have always had a great professional tuning with Salman, Shahrukh & Aamir and of course both professional & personal tuning too, with Saif. Not only these I am also happy working with Akshay Kumar, Anil Kapoor et al. And finally I am also working with the younger lot. I mean It is a great honour for me that after working with Anil Kapoor, I am also working with Arjun Kapoor as his wife. And after working with him I felt that the younger generation of actors are also brilliant and a lot more aware & conscious. And I would also like to state that It is all about your passion and what you believe in. And in this regard I am also of the opinion that you needn’t be seen in every film as you are as old as you look.”
She also expressed her opinion regarding the return of the era of heroine oriented films, “But the era of the heroine oriented films was always omnipresent in all the time zone. At every turn it has strongly made its presence felt just as with the recent releases like ‘Tanu Weds Manu Returns’, ‘Piku’ et al. Just like In the 70’s era there were films like ‘Seeta Aur Geeta’, ‘Amar Prem’ et al where the heroines had strong roles. Even my own film ‘Jab We Met’ was also a heroine oriented film. In fact most of the times I have ended up doing heroine oriented films whether it was ‘Omkara’ or ‘Jab We Met’. ‘Omkara’ was a title role for the heroine but Saif played the lead. And for that matter I will not do a heroine oriented film till the script demands because everyone is doing one.”
And as a parting shot Kareena clarified her stance once again that marriage has certainly made no difference to her career wise, “What difference sir, as after marriage, only the surname Khan has been added to my name, moreover it was 15 years after I came in the film industry. It is indeed a big achievement for me that Salman is still ready to work with a married woman like me. I am also glad that Kabir thought of casting me ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’. I should once again repeat that marriage has not made any difference to me. I have been an exception to the rule. I do not think I lost even one brand ever since I got married. After marriage I thought this is the time to work with new as well as different directors. After a certain stage in your career, it is nice to work with different people. Kabir Khan is also one of my favourite director as he makes larger than life kind of movies which are not mindless and which also has a strong story to narrate. And lastly please don’t ask me about my forthcoming fims. As I have many milestone achievements to conquer, but as usual I will speak about them just before its release and during its promotinal drives. Period!