Sharmila Tagore birthday: When Kareena Kapoor called her mother-in-law a 'game changer, a tigress'

Kareena Kapoor Khan had called her mother-in-law Sharmila Tagore a 'game changer' in Bollywood during an interview with Midday

Kareena with Jeh and Sharmila Tagore in a photo shared by Saba Ali Khan

Kareena Kapoor Khan shares a special bond with her mother-in-law Sharmila Tagore. Not so long ago, during a Sit With Hitlist conversation with Mid-day, Kareena praised the veteran actress for breaking stereotypes in Bollywood and continuing to work even after marriage.  

Kareena comes from the illustrious Kapoor family that has immensely contributed to the Hindi film industry. From Prithviraj Kapoor to Ranbir Kapoor, actors and filmmakers across generations of the family have been part of the film industry. However, it is said that women working in films has been looked down upon for years in the family. Actresses marrying into the family typically gave up their careers.

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Karisma Kapoor was the first daughter from the family to step into films in the '90s, with the support of her mother Babita. She paved the way for her sister, Kareena Kapoor, who is one of the most successful actresses of our time.

'Sharmila is such a tigress'

Why did the Kapoor women not work in films before Karisma? “The women who got married in the ’60s and ’70s in the Kapoor family never really worked in films. Maybe it was their choice also, I don’t know,” Kareena told Mid-day’s Mayank Shekhar in the latest episode of latest Sit With Hitlist print and podcast series.

“But my father he is very cosmopolitan,” Kareena said when asked if her father Randhir Kapoor had any objections to both the sisters working in films. “He was always like, I don’t know, I can’t do anything, she has to find her own debut, find her own way and figure it out herself, if that’s what she wants. She did exactly that.”

Kareena added, that while many women probably chose not to work in films after marriage, her mother-in-law Sharmila Tagore continued to be a successful actress.

“I think women in the Kapoor family chose not to work, that’s what I feel. Then obviously it became kind of like, they don’t work. Or maybe at that time, somebody said, don’t do it... A lot of people said light-eyed actresses won’t make it. I don’t know if that’s true or not. But obviously, look at Karisma and so many others after that. I don’t know why people were not working. My mum-in-law worked throughout. She worked after her marriage as well, after Saif was born as well and she has been such an inspiration and such a tigress who has completely led the way for all the actresses then. Everyone. She was a game-changer of sorts in the ’60s. so, I guess it was also a personal decision maybe that our parents took or my mother took,” she elaborated.

'I get my confidence from my mother'

Karisma Kapoor started young, at the age of 15 or 16. By the time Kareena entered the industry, things had already changed, and so was her mother’s way of managing their careers. Kareena says she gets her fiery nature from her mother, who was like a tiger mom with her cubs, protecting and nurturing them.

“I get my confidence and my independence from my mother, watching her when I was a child. The way she would do things for Karisma and me. She was such a backbone to Karisma’s career - taking her down South to D Ramanaidu’s studio - all of that happened in front of my eyes. I saw my mother in a different light. The fire that is in me comes from her. Till today she has that fire for her children. She is always the most excited about Jaane Jaan, or whichever film you are doing. She has been like a lioness with her cubs and that’s the way we were brought up. My father is still very open and cosmopolitan, I have to give him credit that he has also encouraged a lot,” she said.

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