Hindustan Times ST (Jaipur) - Hindustan Times (Jaipur) - City
‘I WILL CHOOSE WHAT SPACE I WANT TO BE IN’
Birthday girl Kareena Kapoor Khan talks about her comfort zones — on screen and off it
As she gets ready to cut the birthday cake today, Kareena Kapoor Khan, hard-working actor and mom to one of the cutest infants in Bollywood, says that she’s “over that phase” where she’d feel the need to compete with anyone else. In her next film, Veere Di Wedding, Kareena, who turns 37 today, stars with another stunning Kapoor, Sonam. The film has something of a girl gang, with Swara Bhaskar and Shikha Talsania finishing the quartet. It’s interesting to explore how, after 17 years as an actor, Kareena chooses her films. “I think [the criteria] haven’t changed,” she says. “The fact that always remains is: I should do films that actually entertain the audience… I don’t understand it when people say ‘small role’ or ‘big role’. It has never been
about that.” The second criterion is the cast — her co-stars have “always” been very important. Kareena adds, “A lot of people have asked me, why did I say no to a particular film, but I don’t think I would’ve gotten along with those people.” And there’s no urge to do films to stay in the news. “Honestly, it’s not about doing five films at this stage,” she says. “I’m not competing with anyone. I’m over that phase... I’ll choose what space I want to be in. Now, Rhea (Kapoor, producer of Veere Di Wedding) and Sonam are taking a break to travel to Mumbai. She’s celebrating today with husband Saif Ali Khan, son Taimur, and other family members. She will then immediately fly back to Delhi to join the cast and crew. friends. I trust them.” After this film, the birthday girl plans to chill for a while. She’s chilled out, too, about being spotted at airports, and makes no special effort to dazzle the paparazzi. “I’m done with the airport looks,” she laughs. “The idea is to be comfortable and causal.” Those two words probably sum up a regular day in her life. “Now, it’s all about Taimur, apart from my film work,” says Kareena. “It’s pretty normal. It’s about close-knit family and closeknit friends.”