Karisma Kapoor’s 47th birthday today has almost coincided with her debut in ‘Prem Qaidi’ on June 22, 1991. She marked 30 years of the film with an Instagram post three days back.
A feisty teenager then, this eldest grandchild of Raj Kapoor and star couple Randhir-Babita’s daughter fondly called ‘Lolo’, broke the proverbial glass ceiling by being the first Kapoor khandaan daughter to have entered films that too in a movie that required her to wear a swimsuit (reportedly, other heroines, including Raveena Tandon had refused the film for this reason).
Then came ‘Jigar’ (1992), ‘Anari’(1993), ‘Raja Babu’ and ‘Suhaag’ (1994), ‘Coolie No. 1’ (1995), ‘Gopi Kishan’ (1995) and ‘Saajan Chale Sasural’ and ‘Jeet’ (1996). Though huge hits, the initial films saw her as an awkward teenager with bushy eyebrows in mostly male-dominated films.
Then came ‘Raja Hindustani’ opposite Aamir Khan in 1996, which completely changed how the audience viewed Karisma Kapoor and she earned a new set of fans, both due to her makeover and her acting prowess. This was followed by ‘Coolie No 1’, ‘Dil To Pagal Hai’ (1997), ‘Hum Saath-Saath Hain’ (1999) and ‘Biwi No. 1’ (1999) and then ‘Fiza’ in 2000.
‘Dil To Pagal Hai’ got her the National Award for the Best Supporting Actress. What truly defined her as a performer was the iconic 2001 film ‘Zubeida’ in which she stood her own despite being pitched against stalwarts like Rekha and Manoj Bajpayee.
Her engagement to Abhishek Bachchan broke soon after it was announced in 2002. The reason is still a well-guarded secret between the two first families of Bollywood. She later got married to Delhi-based businessman Sanjay Kapur. The marriage was rocky from the very start though the couple has two children.
Karisma’s last major film was the blink and miss ‘Dangerous Ishhq’ in 2012. She also debuted in the digital space with the ALTBalaji series ‘Mentalhood’ last year.
