Birthday girl Karisma Kapoor�۪s path to success

Fresh from her box office release, ��Dangerous Ishhq�۪ (2012), birthday day girl Karisma Kapoor has a lot to celebrate. Not only is baby sister Kareena Kapoor marrying a prince this year but��she has recently announced that she will be debut-ing with��her own fashion line for young mothers and working women. To say the actress is blessed is an understatement; she has enjoyed one of the longest careers in the Bollywood industry and this is to such an extent that she can be off the film screen and still be one the most talked about celebrities.

Speaking about her supposed come back to Ikonz, the Bollywood bombshell said: ���The word comeback is misused in our country. I was on a sabbatical. I took a maternity leave and what is wrong if I come back to do my job? It is something I love doing, more than anything else. Acting has always been a passion for me which turned into a career. Today, when I do a movie, it’s for the love of acting, for the love of being on set more than anything else.�۝

Daughter of actor Randhir Kapoor and actress Babita, the actress belongs to one of most prestigious Bollywood families. However, it has not always been plain sailing for her despite her lineage. In fact, a Kapoor tradition has been��that their women could not work in the industry which led to Kapoor�۪s parents living separately for a long time.

Kapoor made her debut in ��Prem Qaidi�۪ (1991) at the tender age of 16 and cemented her road to Bollywood fame. Speaking to the Times of India about the experience, the actress said: ���I was just 16. I had no clue what was happening. Prem Qaidi was a big risk I was taking. After school, I just got to spend a few months in college before I landed on the sets. There were a lot of expectations from me. I was nervous.�۝

The risk paid off as the actress didn�۪t look back, signing script after script and ensuring that she became a household name just like other members of her family. ���In those days, we used to sign so many films at the same time and we would go by whatever worked best for us. There would never be a conflict over the story. There wouldn’t be long script narrations. Lots of things were developed and improvised on the sets,�۝ she told Times of India. ���Though��Prem Qaidi��released first and it was my first hit, my first shot was not for the film. It was with��Salman Khan��in��Nischay.��My first song sequence too wasn’t for��Prem��Qaidi – it as with��Akshay Kumar��in��Deedar. But both the films released later.�۝

Her��list of film hits don�۪t just stop with ��Prem Qaidi�۪, in fact they still continue till this day and she is one of the first actresses to work with all three Khans. She worked with Aamir Khan in ��Raja Hindustani�۪ (1996) and Andaz Apna Apna (1994), countless films with Salman Khan and had a super hit with Shah Rukh Khan in ��Dil To Pagal Hai�۪ (1997).

Speaking to Bollywood Hungama about working with all three Khans, the actress said: ��ω��I have a different equation with all three Khans. Salman Khan is a family friend and we are good friends too. Our dads are good friends, we have worked together and he has literally seen me and Kareena grow up in front of him. It is literally a family bond. With Shah Rukh, I did one of my most important films of my career, Dil To Pagal Hai. I won a national award for that film so it was very special to me. With Aamir, I did two legendary movies; Andaz Apna Apna and Raja Hindustani. I think he was very patient with me filming Raja Hindustani. It was such an important film for him and for me too. It was a very strong heroine role for me.�۝

Kapoor does not only play a strong role in her films, in her time away from the cinema screen, she is a dedicated mother to two children, daughter Samaira and son Kiaan Raj. The actress delayed her return to films because she wanted to focus on being a good mother and giving them the attention they needed. Talking to Times of India about juggling the important role whilst working on ��Dangerous Ishhq�۪, she said: ���It’s all about balancing everything right. As long as you have your priorities right, you can balance out everything. I wasn’t ready to come back to films before and my kids needed me too. Vikram [Bhatt, director of ��Dangerous Ishhq] has been extremely accommodating with timings and holidays whenever I’ve needed a break. Becoming a mother has been the best experience of my life and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.�۝

One thing�۪s for sure, no matter what role the actress takes on in life, she is sure to make it a success. Being a self-proclaimed woman of 2012, she is a role model for us all. Happy Birthday from BizAsia and we wish you all the best for the future.