Kareena: In India, once you’re married, you can’t do anything like you did before

In an industry full of men who flaunt a Khan or a Kapoor appended to their first names, there seldom comes a lady like Kareena Kapoor Khan who never uses the Kapoor and Khan attached to her name to further her career. That cements her position as one of the most loved actresses in showbiz today. SpotboyE met her at husband Saif Ali Khan’s office for a chat.

Excerpts:

What made you give your nod to Ki & Ka?
It was the very concept – R Balki (director) told me he wants to make a love story but not the typical girl-meets-boy kind. He wanted to make a love story where the boy is proud to say that he wants to be a housewife like his mother. How often do we hear that from guys?

Another unconventional factor is the film’s casting. You’re open to working with Arjun Kapoor, who is relatively less experienced. How do the dynamics play out? 
Arjun is as experienced as any other senior actor because he’s a film family ka bachcha. The younger lot is so conscious of what they are doing and what is being written about them. I think all of them are amazing. I can’t put a finger on one and say I want to work with him next. I’m working with a rank newcomer like Diljit Dosanjh in Udta Punjab. It all depends on the script.

You had imposed a no-kissing clause after your marriage. What made you break it with this film?
In India, once you’re married, you can’t do anything like you did before marriage. Everything is terminated including the way you want to breathe. It’s like you have sold your soul. Thankfully, my husband respects the fact that I am an actor. If two people are playing a young married couple, they have to get intimate. What’s the other way to explore that dimension of their interpersonal relationship?

From kissing to lovemaking, you and Arjun are scorching the screen with your intimate scenes. Did you have to sit Saif Ali Khan down and discuss about it before shooting the scenes in question?
It was Saif who said that I must do it. He said if you have stood up for so many things, you might as well stand up for this. People thought I wouldn’t work after marriage but I didn’t let that happen. Saif told me to be the modern woman I claim to be.

Three months into 2016 and we’ve already seen so many celebrity break-ups. Do you think stardom takes a toll on relationships?
See, Saif and I are actors. I was working all round 2015 and Saif wasn’t. We kept missing each other. So, we made sure we found time to spend together. It won’t happen on its own. We have to multitask to be with each other. You can’t just get up and say that I don’t have time for love. If you want your relationship to work, make that effort.

Among other reasons for a break-up, do you think people are also running out of patience in a relationship?
Maybe. We’re getting used to instant love and gratification through Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. The number of clicks nowadays decides how much we are loved. We’re wishing each other on birthdays and occasions on Twitter. I don’t believe in doing that. That’s why I am still not on Twitter. I’m old school in that sense. I call or send a note. I want my personal communications to stay persona.

Your cousin Ranbir and Katrina Kaif’s relationship wound up after six years. Considering you’re close to both of them, what’s your take?
It’s their personal issue. Between those two people, I will always be the outsider.

You spoke about having a girl crush on Kangana Ranaut…
Arjun (Kapoor) and I were asked who we had a same-sex crush on and I picked Kangana. Actually, I was on a flight with Kangana from Delhi after a conclave. I think she is young, spirited and feisty. I look up to her in a lot of ways. We have similar kind of energies. She speaks her mind like I do.

She’s going through a bad patch with Hrithik Roshan right now. What do you have to say about that?
Kangana is going through issues but I am not that close to her to know the details. So I can’t speak about what really happened.



Gender bias has penetrated Bollywood. The interview will be incomplete without knowing your take on that...
It’s already changing. Biases have happened because it is a male dominated industry, driven by the box-office numbers and the Khans. But lately, different scripts are being accepted. Neerja, for instance, was a brilliant script. We are trying to do something different with my film too.

Anushka Sharma once said that heroes get better rooms on outdoor shoots than the heroines. Does the bias stoop that low?
If the hero is a gentleman, he must offer the better room to the heroine. Actually, I wouldn’t know much about this bias because I haven’t been inside any of my hero’s rooms. How would I know!


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