Kareena Kapoor

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Kareena Kapoor

     Kareena Kapoor Born into a film family in Mumbai on 21 September 1980, Kapoor (often informally referred to as 'Bebo') is the younger daughter of Randhir Kapoor and Babita; her elder sister Karisma is also an actress. She is the granddaughter of actor and filmmaker Raj Kapoor and niece of actor Rishi Kapoor. According to Kapoor, the name "Kareena" was derived from the book Anna Karenina, which her mother read while she was pregnant with her. She is of Punjabi descent on her father's side, and on her mother’s side she is of Sindhi and British descent. As a child, Kareena Kapoor regularly practised Hinduism, but was also exposed to Christianity from her mother.

     Describing herself as a "very naughty [and] spoilt child", Kareena Kapoor's exposure to films from a young age kindled her interest in acting; she was particularly inspired by the work of actresses Nargis and Meena Kumari. Despite her family background, her father disapproved of women entering films because he believed it conflicted with the traditional maternal duties and responsibility of women in the family. This led to a conflict between her parents, and they separated. She was then raised by her mother, who worked several jobs to support her daughters until Karisma debuted as an actress in 1991. After living separately for several years, her parents reconciled in October 2007. Kareena Kapoor remarked "My father is also an important factor in my life though we did not see him often in our initial years, we are a family now."

     Kareena Kapoor attended Jamnabai Narsee School in Mumbai, followed by Welham Girls' School in Dehradun. She attended the institution primarily to satisfy her mother, though later admitted to liking the experience. According to Kapoor, she wasn't inclined towards academics though received good grades in all her classes except mathematics. After graduating from Welham she studied commerce for two years at Mithibai College in Vile Parle (Mumbai). Kareena Kapoor then registered for a three-month summer course in microcomputers at Harvard University in the United States. She later developed an interest in law, and enrolled at the Government Law College, Mumbai; during this period, she developed a long-lasting passion for reading. However, after completing her first year, Kareena Kapoor decided to pursue her interest to become an actress. She began training at an acting institute in Mumbai mentored by Kishore Namit Kapoor, a member of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII).

Clothing line and publication:

     Alongside her acting work, Kapoor has established a career as a designer and an author. During her five-year association as spokesperson for the retail chain Globus, Kapoor became the first Indian actress to launch her own line of clothing for women; she described the collaboration as being "special" and "reflective of my personal sense of style". Her collection made its debut several months later in stores across India, and was well received. Following the end of her contract with Globus, she expressed a desire to work with a design house to release her clothing line internationally, but later explained that those plans were on hold.

     In 2009, Kapoor collaborated with nutritionist Rujuta Diwekar on Don't Lose Your Mind, Lose Your Weight, a book which focused on the principles of healthy eating habits. Published by Random House Publications, the book was well received by critics, and sold 10,000 copies within its first twenty days. A follow-up titled, Women and The Weight Loss Tamasha, was released two years later. It addressed the weight loss concerns and eating habits of women in various parts of their life, and featured Kapoor in a voice-over for the audiobook. In February 2013, Kapoor released her autobiographical memoir: The Style Diary of a Bollywood Diva. Co-authored alongside Rochelle Pinto, it became the first book to be launched under the Shobhaa De imprint of Penguin Books—a set of series that included celebrity memoirs, guides and biographies. In a review published by Mint, Shefalee Vasudev criticised the writing style as "too-breezy" but further stated that it is "a well-produced book, reproducing chirpy little post-it notes and diet charts, punctuated with Bebo's stunning pictures from her private albums to fashion magazine covers." Later that year, she collaborated with Diwekar for the third time on The Indian Food Wisdom and The Art of Eating Right, a documentary film about nutrition.

Stage performances:

     Kareena Kapoor has participated in several stage shows and world tours since 2002. Her first tour (Heart throbs: Live in Concert (2002) with Hrithik Roshan, Karisma Kapoor, Arjun Rampal and Aftab Shivdasani) was successful in the United States and Canada. At the end of that year, she performed with several other Bollywood stars at Kings Park Stadium in Durban, South Africa in the show Now or Never.

     Four years later, Kapoor returned to the stage with six other Bollywood celebrities in the successful Rockstars Concert world tour. The concert was originally scheduled to commence in April 2006, but was postponed due to the arrest of Salman Khan. It later began the following month and was staged in 19 cities across the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada. In 2008, Kapoor performed in Shahrukh Khan's Temptation Reloaded 2008, a series of concerts in a number of countries. The show (which also featured Arjun Rampal, Katrina Kaif, Ganesh Hegde, Javed Ali and Anusha Dandekar)

debuted at the Ahoy Rotterdam venue in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Several months later she again joined Khan, Rampal and Kaif to perform for an audience of 15,000 at Dubai's Festival City Arena.

Philanthropy:

     During her years in the film industry, Kapoor has made public appearances to support various philanthropic endeavours, and has been actively involved in promoting children's education and the safety of women. In November 2003, she performed at a fundraiser for the World Youth Peace Summit whilst in 2005, she and other Bollywood actors participated in a concert to raise money for victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami. Later that year, she visited Indian jawans (troops) in Rajasthan, for a special Holi weekend episode of NDTV's reality show Jai Jawaan. In 2010, Kapoor adopted the village of Chanderi in Madhya Pradesh as part of NDTV's Greenathon Campaign, to provide the village with a regular supply of electricity, and later took part in the international campaign, 1GOAL Education for All.

     The following year, Kapoor was appointed ambassador for the Shakti Campaign—a project launched by the NDTV television network to combat violence against women—in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day. In December 2013, Kapoor launched Channel V's anti-rape mobile app 'VithU'; she stated that due to the increase in violence against women in India, "it was important for actors to stand up for issues because they can reach out to a lot of people." Kapoor later attended a gala dinner at the Taj Mahal Hotel (hosted by Valérie Trierweiler) where she participated in a campaign to raise awareness on hunger and malnutrition in the world. In 2014, Kapoor joined UNICEF's campaign to launch a higher-quality learning environment in Indian schools. Also that year, while filming Bajrangi Bhaijaan in Kashmir, Kapoor made donations to the Kashmir flood relief.

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