kareena Kapoor

Making her acting debut with Refugee (2000), for which
she won a Filmfare Best Female Debut Award, Kapoor had
her first commercial success with her second release,
Mujhe Kucch Kehna Hai (2001). Later that year, she was
noticed for her performance in Karan Johar's melodrama
Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, which became India's
top-grossing film in the overseas market that year and
her biggest commercial success to date. Kapoor
followed this with several films, which were
unsuccessful at the box office, and encountered
several negative reviews and criticisms for becoming
typecast. Trying to reinvent her image, she took on
more serious characters, and was soon recognized for
her versatility as an actress.

Kareena Kapoor's portrayal of a sex-worker in Chameli (2004) proved
to be the turning point in her career and won her the
Filmfare Special Performance Award. She later received
two Critics Award for Best Actress at the Filmfare for
her performances in the critically acclaimed films Dev
(2004) and Omkara (2006). In 2007, Kapoor earned her
first Filmfare Best Actress Award for her performance
in the commercially successful comedy-romance Jab We
Met. Despite not having that many hits to her credit,
Kapoor has established herself as one of the leading
actresses of Bollywood.

Hailing from the renowned Kapoor film family of
Punjabi origin, Kareena Kapoor was born on September 21, 1980
in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, as the second child of
actors Randhir Kapoor and Babita (née Shivdasani).
According to Kapoor, her first name was derived from
the book, Anna Karenina. She is the granddaughter of
legendary actor and filmmaker Raj Kapoor and the great
granddaughter of Prithviraj Kapoor. Bebo, as she is
fondly called, is also the sister of popular actress,
Karisma Kapoor and the niece of well-known actor,
Rishi Kapoor. Other living relatives include maternal
aunt Sadhana, and cousins Ranbir Kapoor and Nikhil
Nanda.

Due to family tradition, Kareena Kapoor's father wanted her to get
married early and settle down, thus avoiding acting,
which was considered a taboo for Kapoor women. This
led to irreconcilable differences between her parents,
and resulted in her mother leaving the house along
with Kapoor and her sister. She was raised by her
mother, who, with difficulty, worked several jobs to
support the family, until her sister got into films in
1991. Kapoor did her schooling at Jamnabai Narsee
School in Mumbai, and later Welham Girls Boarding
School in Dehradun. After studying commerce at
Mithibai College, Vile Parle for two years, she took a
three-month summer course in microcomputers at
Harvard. Kareena Kapoor developed an interest in law, thus
enrolled at the Government's Law College in
Churchgate. After completing one year there, she
returned to her initial plan to become an actor, and
began training under Kishor Namit Kapoor, the founder
of Kapoor Acting Lab.

BIO #2

Kareena Kapoor was born to Sindhi-speaking Babita (nee Shivdasani) and Punjabi-speaking Randhir Kapoor on September 21, 1977 in Bombay, India. She has an elder sister, Karisma.
She is born in a family that have been actors for generations, including her paternal great-grandfather, Prithviraj Kapoor; her grandfather, Raj Kapoor; her paternal uncles, Shammi, Shashi, Rishi, and Rajiv; as well as aunt, Neetu Singh, & Jennifer Kendall, the wives of Rishi and Shashi respectively. On her maternal side, her grandfather, Hari Shivdasani, and aunt, Sadhana, have been actors in their own rights.
As a child Kareena Kapoor studied in Jamnabai Narsee School in Juhu, Bombay, and thereafter was enrolled in Dehra Dun's prestigious Welham Girls' Boarding School. Then she re-located to Harvard for approximately 3 months to take a course in Information Technology and Microcomputers. Upon her return to India, she joined the Government Law College in Churchgate, Bombay, but left it after one year, to enroll in the Kishore Namit Kapoor Acting School.

Her dad, Randhir is very protective towards his daughters and wanted both of them to keep away from acting, get married, and settle down, as per the Kapoor family tradition. This led to irreconcilable differences between her parents, ultimately leading to a divorce, with both sisters leaving their dad to live with their mom.
Kareena Kapoor's film debut was in the year 2000 with 'Refugee' along with the debut of Amitabh Bachchan's son, Abhishek. She went on to appear in 31 other Hindi movies, and has thus far won four awards for her performances in 'Refugee', 'Chameli', 'Dev', and 'Omkara'.
She is one of the most sought-after actresses in Bollywood, considered bankable, with an enviable A-listing and as of June 2007 is to appear in 'Tashan', 'Lajjo', 'Kismat Talkies' amongst others.

BIO 3

Kareena Kapoor, nicknamed "Bebo" is a four-time Filmfare Award-winning Indian popular actress who appears in Bollywood movies. Since her debut in the 2000 film, Refugee, she has acted in nearly 30 films, majority of them bringing her critical success rather than commercial success. Despite this fact, she has emerged today as one of the top and most versatile actresses from the industry. As of 2007, her total box office impact is worth well over Rs. 4 billion.

Early life, until 2000

Kareena Kapoor attended Jamnabai Narsee School in Mumbai and then went to Welham Girls Boarding School in Dehradun. She then 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.

Kareena 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 Refugee in 2000 with Abhishek Bachchan and won critical acclaim for portraying the role of a Pakistani girl. The role earned her an award for Filmfare Best Debut (Female).

Breakthrough, 2001-2003

In 2001, films like Ajnabee and Asoka followed for her which did indifferent business at the box office. Her breakthrough performance of a princess in the latter was acclaimed and earned her a Filmfare nomination for Best Actress. However, the success of her films Mujhe Kucch Kehna Hai and Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham established her as one of the industry's most bankable stars and put her on Bollywood's A-list.

Kareena Kapoor was in great demand after these successes and signed many new movies, but most of her films failed to do well at the box office. 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. Many critics criticized her for doing the same kind of roles in her films but strangely, big banners were still keen to sign her.

36 China Town was Kareena Kapoor'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 from audiences as well as the critics, 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 in the best actress category including the Filmfare Awards. Her next release, Don - The Chase Begins Again released in October 2006 and became one of the biggest hits of 2006. She won favorable reviews both for her acting and her dancing in her item number.

After shooting for her film, Don, Kareena Kapoor decided to take a long break from Bollywood. Although she did sign a few new projects during her break, she did not shoot for any of them. In March 2007, she resumed shooting for the film Kya Love Story Hai, in which she only appeared in an item number. The film which released in April 2007 won favorable reviews for her dancing again.