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CINEMA: KAREENA KAPOOR
Bebo's Day Out
On a marquee crammed with mannequins, models and Miss
Worlds, the two-film-old actress is confident she will make it to the
top slot
By V. Shankar Aiyar and Sheela Raval
I am Karisma's sister
and I am gonna be a big star one day." You would think it is a line
from an apocryphal script. It's not. Visitors to the Breach Candy home
of the Kapoors in the early 1990s often heard this pout from a little
girl in pigtails barely in her teens. When she did make her entry into
films last year, she walked away with Filmfare's best debutante award-and
not before mouthing words that had again been well rehearsed over the
years.
 Last
month saw Kareena Kapoor's second release. It wasn't different-or hatke,
as the Bollywood cliche goes- the usual shy boy trying to say Mujhe Kuch
Kehna Hai (MKKH) to a haughty raven-haired beauty but it has Bollywood
talking. In a year marked by big-banner flops starring the Khans and Bachchans,
MKKH has been declared the first universal hit. Songs from the film on
pirated cassettes are played by tongawallahs in Myanmar, and the usually
irreverent Stardust has dubbed her the next numero UNO. These are only
the first frames. Coming up at a theatre near you are showman Subhash
Ghai's Yaadein and Karan Johar's Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gam with her opposite
Hrithik Roshan, Sooraj Barjatya's Main Teri Prem Diwani with Hrithik and
Abhishek Bachchan and Santosh Sivan's Asoka The Great with Shah Rukh Khan.
Two films old and with four of the best banners round the corner, 20-year-old
Kareena-Bebo to industry people-is the hottest name on a marquee crammed
with mannequins, models and Miss Worlds. Rarely has Bollywood raved so
much in expectation.
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| MADE TO ORDER: Kareena on the sets of Yaadein
with Ghai and Hrithik |
It's not just the popular press but hard-as-nail
Bollywood veterans who are virtually babbling. Rajshri bossman Barjatya
recently saw mkkh and gushed to Kareena, "You are a miracle, a gift
to the industry." Similarly showman Ghai finds her "natural,
real and brilliant". "Rarely do you come across a persona where
everything from body language to eyes is just right," he says.
Directors apart, even fellow stars are awed
by her poise and confidence. Abhishek recalls his debut with her in Refugee
and puts it succinctly: "I feel sorry for anyone sharing a frame
with Bebo." And if reigning heartthrob Hrithik is to be believed,
this is just the beginning. "Watch out for her next release,"
he warns.
So what is it about Kareena that is evoking
the kind of buzz not heard since Sridevi and Madhuri Dixit? Having neither
Aishwarya Rai's allure nor Sushmita Sen's sensuality, her attraction is
one that has been carefully cultivated, largely through her hobbies-watching
vintage films and listening to old songs. "I am sensitive and cry
easily, so emoting like Meena Kumari is interesting. Often, I imagine
being Madhubala with Dilip Kumar." Her fantasy is to romance with
the legendary Raj Kapoor like Nargis. Though built differently, Kareena
has clearly benchmarked herself against this: an awesome combination of
Madhubala's nakhras and Nargis' glamour and grit.
"I am strong and soft so I like Julia Roberts
and Meg Ryan," she says. So that's where the vulnerability and the
impishness come from. But it's not all crafted. As Komal Nahata, editor,
Film Information, points out, "Kareena's unique ability to tease
draws the audience." Designer Manish Malhotra feels it's her chameleon-like
ability to switch looks and "carry off virtually anything".
"Others you may find beautiful and sexy. Bebo, you just want to fall
in love with," he says in adoration. Satish Kaushik finds in her
a "sweet arrogance that has helped her cut above the rest".
MKKH's success, he says, is proof enough. The speculation now is that
she will bag the best actress award. And she won't be groping for words
this time either. "I have been playing it in my mind since the age
of six," she says without any pretense.
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