Kareena Kapoor on how Saif helped her recover from showbiz slump
MUMBAI: Bollywood star Kareena Kapoor Khan has said that husband Saif Ali Khan helped her “heal and love” herself at a time when her career was stalling.
She has written a long post for Humans of Bombay voicing out on her insecurities, meeting Saif, and her son Taimur.
“When I came back home from boarding school, Karisma had just started acting. I was in awe of her – I remember her in Dil Toh Pagal Hai, being so passionate. She held herself with such pride through everything; watching her made me want to act too. So when my time came, she taught me to wade through this industry as a woman. It started out great – I did amazing films. But then for a year I didn’t work. I felt like my career was over; I was told to ‘ re-invent’, become size 0. Everyone goes through a lull in their career. But as an actor, it’s worse – there are so many eyes on you.”
Kareena said it was Saif who made her realise the importance of having a work-life balance. She also opened up about the time they shot Tashan together: “Somehow through my life, I’ve been blessed with people who have supported me thoroughly! So just when I thought I was falling, Saif caught me. I’d met him before, but while we were filming Tashan, something changed. I wore my heart on my sleeve! He was so charming.”
“He’s 10 years older than me and has two kids. But for me, he was just Saif – he helped me heal and love myself. Maybe it was the fact that we’re so different – he’s more private and not ‘ Bollywoodised’, but I imbibed that from him. I learnt to balance things and not let them get to me. We’d been dating for awhile, when he said he’s not 25 and can’t keep dropping me home every night. So he told my mom, ‘I want to spend the rest of my life with her. We want to live together.’ My mom was cool with it. It’s so easy with him. Even when we decided to get married, it felt right,” she added.