Kareena Kapoor hints at open war with Priyanka

Kareena Kapoor (AFP)

Published Thursday, September 20, 2012

By Sneha May Francis

Ever since she bagged the role of the ‘Heroine’ in filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar’s movie, after it was unceremoniously given away by Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Kareena Kapoor hasn’t missed an opportunity to highlight that it wasn’t her ambition, but her “destiny” that won her the part.

In an industry heavily outlined by unrelenting ambition and haunting insecurities, it’s ironic that she refuses to play out those emotions during the promotional leg of ‘Heroine’, a movie that unapologetically glorifies those traits.

It’s her film family upbringing that she credits for enabling her to do a good cover-up. “I’ve always been pretty balanced and lucky in that way. It’s because I come from a film family.”

And that trait, she highlighted during our tête-à-tête during her recent Dubai visit, when she literally descended from the skies, stepped out of a sea plane, and walked straight into a docked yacht that had gathered the media.

Dodging almost every question, particularly that which surrounded her wedding, with practiced nonchalance.

“When it happens my fans will know. I think everybody is making a big deal about it. Everyone knows that I am with Saif (Ali Khan) and we’ve been together for five years and we live together,” she trails off.

Even the controversy relating to a certain “derogatory hint” at Dubai was sidelined, by her and her director Madhur Bhandarkar, as “completely unintentional”.

“It has been passed by the censors in India. It’s just that in the movie, she is highlighting certain perceptions among the media. We are trying to break the myth by telling this thing. I don’t mean to demean anybody. Dubai has been mine, and hers (pointing to Bebo) favourite destination,” he chips in.

Shifting back into character, she elaborates how her challenge was in essaying a character, who, she claims, is her opposite complete. “I’m glad that I could essay this kind of a role.”

The actress, however, details that such daunting insecurities are sketched mostly by women, because she’s “yet to see a man who is over emotional”.

“The insecurities are very different for an actress. Women think differently from men. I think they (women) are justified in being over-emotional, moody.”

Despite the movie generating so much buzz, and Kareena confident about her own performance, she denies eyeing the prestigious national award for it. “We just want the audience to love it. That’s all.”

Yet, there were moments when she lets off her guard and candidly admits that friendship is a rarity in the industry. “Our professional life is very different from our personal life. We make friends sometimes over the years, but I am yet to see two actors who are great friends.

“To be honest, we are not here to make friends. We are all here to work.”