Today's Edition
Kuumar Shyam (Sharjah) - Kareena Kapoor Khan enthralled the audience at the Sharjah International Book Fair on Saturday evening with especially ladies marveling at the insights provided by the Indian actress and an author of five books in a stellar career.
Her last offering, “Pregnancy Bible”, was released in August 2021 and has been touted as a commercial success. Describing her book as one with a longer shelf life and beyond child delivery, she spoke about several aspects of motherhood.
She is mother to Taimur, who causes a social media frenzy with his cute looks, and the new arrival of Jeh in 2021. Hailing from the illustrious Kapoor family, also nicknamed as the first Bollywood film family, Kareena is married to a much-older actor Saif Ali Khan, son of a former prince Mansour Ali Pataudi, and a famous cricketer.
It was Bollywood royalty, though, that took over the Sharjah Expo Centre, with crowds abuzz before her arrival. And she did not disappoint though with her witty answers. Among other things she revealed that son Taimur (now eight years old) is keen to come to Dubai and the UAE although both she and her husband have been to this part of the world and love it.
“Taimur’s friends have kept coming to Dubai and whenever anyone comes back and shares good things about this place, he keeps asking me every time, ‘Mama, when are we going to Dubai?’,” Kareena said.
Taimur has been the star attraction and a continuous subject of paparazzi so much that the Indian media have been accused of going overboard. Kareena also was famously known for quite some time as the “size zero actress” with a very slim figure. So obviously, the audience wanted to know how she handled her two pregnancies.
She has talked about food and weightless in her three previous books; a fourth one is an autobiography. All her books have been co-written with help from someone. “I am a Punjabi and I love food. As expecting women, I also was always hungry. So, I ate pizzas and burgers, too. But yes, I had to keep the balance. So whatever I ate, I ensured it was healthy and in control.
“My body has been through changes. From a chubby girl to being 45kg at one time and then the motherhood, but I am always love being myself. As one of the popular dialogues of one of my films goes, “I am my own favourite” and I have learned to embrace everything at whatever stage I am in my life”.
Embracing changes has been a theme for her on the work front, too. The seven-time Filmfare award-winning actress, who has been active in the field for two decades, recently had couple of her projects coming on the OTT platforms last month.
Her work was appreciated as a single mother in “Suspect X” and as a detective searching for her son’s killer in “The Buckingham Murders”, which also premiered at the London Film Festival in the last week of October.
Asked for the secret of her confidence or if she is still nervous with variety of roles to play, Kareena said: “I stay confident because of my fans and all the love my fans give me. All actors are like plants and need nurturing to grow. That comes from the fans,” she said to loud cheers from the ball room at the Expo Centre, Sharjah.
The actress also lauded the positive change in the Indian film industry which now sees good scripts and female-oriented movies that have helped actresses make brave choices.
