Beyond the gossip, exploring Kareena Kapoor Khan the actor

Actor Kareena Kapoor Khan, who is garnering praise for her performance in ‘Crew’, has delivered several nuanced performances, but the conversation rarely, if ever, goes to her craft as an actor.

In Short

Kareena has delivered remarkable performances in her career of over two decades
However, conversation is mostly about her fashion sense or family, not acting
Kareena is a consummate actress, praised by her directors and co-actors

Like most public figures, Kareena Kapoor Khan is talked-about often. The conversations are of a wide variety. They could be on her impeccable fashion sense. Or about her illustrious lineage, her sons, Taimur Ali Khan and Jehangir Khan, and the family’s various sightings. If you skip all of these, there will be some frivolous boycott trend by someone who got their knickers in a twist over something she said aeons ago and has now hurt their sentiments. But, the conversation rarely, if ever, goes to her craft as an actor.

However, if you delve into Kareena’s cinematic journey, you will find a trove of remarkable performances that deserve as much applause as her sartorial choices. She is a holistic performer, who slays in her dance sequences (‘Tareefan’, ‘High Heel’) as beautifully as she does in her comic roles (‘Good Newwz’, ‘Golmaal’) and author-backed roles (‘Chameli’, ‘Omkara’). When Kareena, who is nicknamed ‘Bebo’, is on the screen, it is difficult to look away. Such is her on-screen aura.

Her most recent film, ‘Crew,’ where she glided into the role of flight attendant Jasmine Kohli, is a testament to her versatility. She gets the myriad emotions of her character bang on.

In a scene where she and her colleagues discover gold attached to the body of a dead co-worker, Kareena brings comic relief in a rather dramatic situation. She makes it relatable for any underpaid employee, or in this case, an employee who hasn’t been paid for months, as she tries to convince her colleagues, Geeta (Tabu) and Divya Rana (Kriti Sanon), to steal it. Deny it all you want, it’s a thought most of us would get.

She is equally exceptional in scenes where she has to bring out the vulnerability of her role. The character seems undercooked on paper but is brought to life by Kareena’s wit and charm. And while being a good actor, she brings in the glamour quotient as well.

Crew’s director Rajesh Krishnan said about Kareena, “She, along with Tabu and Kriti, was [sic] always engrossed in making a scene shine. Even if the camera was not on her, she would be there giving cues to her fellow actors.”

Kareena Kapoor Khan in a still from ‘Jaane Jaan’.
Sujoy Ghosh, who directed her in Netflix’s ‘Jaane Jaan’, echoes that thought.

“What’s beautiful about Kareena is she completely immerses into the character, which is a relief for a director. She just goes with the vision of the director just like Amitabh Bachchan. She is of platinum standard. She never leaves the set. She is always there. She serves the film and that is what matters,” Sujoy Ghosh tells IndiaToday.In.

KAREENA IS A DIRECTOR’S ACTOR, SAYS SUJOY GHOSH

Kareena plays single mother Maya D’Souza in ‘Jaane Jaan’. The scene where she goes for karaoke with Karan (played by Vijay Varma) and sings ‘Aaa Jaane Jaan’, holds proof of her being a bonafide star. That glow on her face is blinding.

Ask Ghosh about his experience of working with Kareena, and he promptly says, “Superb”. For him, the best thing is that the actor doesn’t “carry the baggage” of being Kareena Kapor Khan to a film set.

“She clearly knows she is Kareena Kapoor Khan and this is Maya D’Souza, which I think is a tremendous power to have. So, whatever she is doing, has no reflection on her as an individual. So, there are no boundaries, no inhibitions, there’s no baggage of Kareena Kapoor Khan that she is carrying into Maya D’Souza,” Sujoy Ghosh tells IndiaToday.In.

Ghosh acknowledges she is a director’s actor. ‘Jaane Jaan’ co-producer Jay Shewakramani admits to it being true from a producer perspective as well, “She is a producer’s actor. Working with her is a delight as her discipline and hard work are rare to find.”

OMKARA, CHAMELI, JAB WE MET REVEAL KAREENA’S VERSATILITY

Kareena’s early films like ‘Refugee’ and ‘Chameli’ show she is capable of giving nuanced performances. Yet, commercial projects like ‘Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham’, ‘Veere Di Wedding’ and ‘Jab We Met’, where she is bubbly and vivacious, exemplify her flair for bringing characters to life with her charisma.

Shahid Kapoor, her ‘Jab We Met’ co-actor, believes if the Imtiaz Ali film was remade today, no actor would be able to do justice to Geet’s character. In an interview to YouTuber Siddharth Kannan, he said, “I cannot comment on my role, but for Geet (Kareena Kapoor’s character), I really doubt anybody else will be able to do that kind of justice.”

‘Omkara’ (2006), a modern retelling of Shakespeare’s Hamlet by filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj, presented Kareena as the Indian Desdemona, and her stinging portrayal is a sheer example of her efficacy at owning the screen, despite having stalwarts like Ajay Devgn and Saif Ali Khan in the same frame.

Bhardwaj was so impressed with Kareena that he wished to collaborate with her even a decade later. During the release of ‘Rangoon’ in 2017, he told reporters, “I really want to work with Kareena again. I am her huge fan.”

Yet, she is always remembered either as Geet of ‘Jab We Met’ or Poo of ‘Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham’. And it bothers her.

“People should talk about Chameli, Omkara, and Heroine. They are pretty underrated in terms of my performance, Yuva too. Why don’t people talk about that,” said Kareena in an interview with Hindustan Times last year.

Kareena Kapoor Khan in ‘Chameli’.
More recently, in ‘Laal Singh Chaddha,’ Kareena proved her mettle, effortlessly essaying the role of a supportive and resilient Rupa to Aamir Khan’s quirky Laal Singh Chaddha. It is not a crackling chemistry, but the way she looks at him fills your heart with love.

Kareena is broadening her horizons.

“At this stage of my career, it’s time to change the dynamics and do different things. I have pushed myself a little extra with content,” Kareena said recently.

For those yet to discover her brilliance, Kareena Kapoor Khan is more than just a fashion icon or a Bollywood royalty. She is a consummate actor, capable of breathing life into characters with unparalleled finesse. As she prepares to return to the silver screen with ‘The Buckingham Murders’, let’s not merely admire her style but also celebrate her artistry, for Kareena Kapoor Khan is a force to be reckoned with, both on and off-screen