Profile
Name: Kareena Kapoor
Nick Name: Bebo
Date of Birth: September 21, 1980
Parents: Randhir Kapoor and Babita Kapoor (maiden name: Shivdasani)
Siblings: Karisma Kapoor (actress)
Debuted: (2000) Refugee (co-starring Abhishek Bachchan)

Kareena Kapoor, nicknamed "Bebo" is a four-time Filmfare Award-winning Indian popular actress who appears in Bollywood movies. Since her debut in the 2000 film, Refugee, she has acted in nearly 30 films, majority of them bringing her critical success rather than commercial success. Despite this fact, she has emerged today as one of the top and most versatile actresses from the industry. As of 2007, her total box office impact is worth well over Rs. 4 billion. She hails from the "Kapoor family" which has many of its members included within the film sorority.

Career
Early life, until 2000
Kareena attended Jamnabai Narsee School in Mumbai and then went to Welham Girls Boarding School in Dehradun. She then went to Harvard for summer school and took a course in microcomputers and information technology for three months. Set on pursuing an acting career, she then took an admission in Government Law College at Churchgate to become a lawyer. After completing one year there, she went back to her initial plan of joining the film industry, where she attended the Kishore Namit Kapoor acting school.
Kareena had planned to debut in Rakesh Roshan's Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai but left the project a few days into the filming. She made her debut in J.P. Dutta’s Refugee in 2000 with Abhishek Bachchan and won critical acclaim for portraying the role of a Pakistani girl. The role earned her an award for Filmfare Best Debut (Female).

Breakthrough, 2001-2003
In 2001, films like Ajnabee and Asoka followed for her which did indifferent business at the box office. Her breakthrough performance of a princess in the latter was acclaimed and earned her a Filmfare nomination for Best Actress. However, the success of her films Mujhe Kucch Kehna Hai and Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham established her as one of the industry's most bankable stars and put her on Bollywood's A-list.
Kapoor was in great demand after these successes and signed many new movies, but most of her films failed to do well at the box office. Even much-hyped films like Mujhse Dosti Karoge! (2002) and Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon (2003) that came from big banners like Yash Raj Films and Rajshri Productions failed to do well. Many critics criticized her for doing the same kind of roles in her films but strangely, big banners were still keen to sign her.

Turning Point, 2004-present
However 2004 turned out to be a turning point in her career in terms of qualitative performance. The critical success of the 2004 film Chameli, where she played the role of a prostitute made critics take notice of her once again and earned her the Filmfare Special Performance Award. She gained critical acclaim for her de-glamorized role in the critically acclaimed film Dev, for which she won the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Performance. Her other films in 2004 included the moderately successful Aitraaz and the semi-hit Hulchul.
36 China Town was Kareena's first release in 2006 followed by Chup Chup Ke. Both films managed to do moderately well at the box office. Her performance as Desdemona in the Indian adaptation of William Shakespeare's Othello, Omkara was praised from audiences as well as the critics, earning her a Filmfare Critics Award for Best Performance and a Star Screen Award for Best Actress. Her performance in the film also landed her various nominations in the best actress category including the Filmfare Awards. Her next release, Don - The Chase Begins Again released in October 2006 and became one of the biggest hits of 2006. She won favorable reviews both for her acting and her dancing in her item number.

After shooting for her film, Don, Kareena decided to take a long break from Bollywood. Although she did sign a few new projects during her break, she did not shoot for any of them. In March 2007, she resumed shooting for the film Kya Love Story Hai, in which she only appeared in an item number. The film which released in April 2007 won favorable reviews for her dancing again. 2007 also saw Kareena hit the bullseye with the phenomenal release of Jab We Met co-starring one time beau Shahid Kapoor. Kareena’s role as “the Sikhni from Bhatinda” Geet won hearts everywhere from Punjab to the UK and earned her very first popular Filmfare Award in the Best Actress category. Kareena has managed to bag every award this year for her performance in Jab We Met.

Personal life
Family
Born into an old and influential film family in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, Kareena's name was inspired by the book, Anna Karenina. Her grandfather was Raj Kapoor; her great grandfather was Prithviraj Kapoor. She is the daughter of Randhir Kapoor and Babita, who had divorced when she was still young. Rishi Kapoor is one of her uncles. Her sister, Karisma Kapoor, is also an actress. Other living relatives include maternal aunt Sadhana, and cousins Ranbir Kapoor and Nikhil Nanda.

Relationships
Kareena is currently dating actor Saif Ali Khan, and has dated Shahid Kapoor in the past.
Gossip columnists have linked her to a number of her co-stars, but she has strongly denied all these rumors.

Commitments
Campaigns
Kareena has been supporting Elle Magazines Breast Cancer campaign in order to raise awareness of Breast Cancer among young women.
She starred in a video with Shahrukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra, and John Abraham as a kick start for the BLUE BILLION campaign that invited cricket fans all over the world to cheer for India.

Charity
In February 2005, along with other Bollywood stars, Kareena performed at the HELP! Telethon Concert to help raise money for the victims of Tsunami.
In March 2005, Kareena visited the desert heartland of Rajasthan to boost the morales of the jawans. It was for a special Holy weekend episode on the Jai Jawan show, where entertainers and stars visit Indian troops in far-flung regions to encourage them along with the NDTV team.

She also performed at the "Marco Ricci Each One Reach One Benefit Concert", a fundraiser for the World Youth Peace Summit.

Kareena donated her prize money, her half-share of 50 lakh rupees from her 2007 appearance on the season finale of Kaun Banega Crorepati with Priyanka Chopra, to St. Anthony's Old Age Home and Mount Mary's Bandra in support of its welfare activities.

Representation
Kareena was invited to Pakistan's Kara Film Festival and the Cannes Film Festival to promote her film, Omkara as a Bollywood entry. Due to her being busy with the Rockstars world tour, she opted not to go to the latter.

She was the brand ambassador of products like Pepsi, ICI Paints, Globus Fashions, Citizen Watches, Vivel Di Wills, Laboratories Garnier’s Nutrisse Brand, Head and Shoulders, and Lux.

Stage Shows
Kareena set on her first world tour in 2002. The Heartthrobs Concert, which had her perform alongside stars like Hrithik Roshan, Karisma Kapoor, Arjun Rampal, and Aftab Shivdasani turned out to be a huge international success.
Her latest tour, the Rockstars Concert of May 2006, in which she performed alongside Salman Khan, Zayed Khan, John Abraham, Shahid Kapoor, Esha Deol and Mallika Sherawat turned out to be a huge success overseas.