Karisma Kapoor

Karisma Kapoor (born 25 June 1974) is an Indian actress who primarily works in Hindi films.

A member of the Kapoor family, she is the daughter of actors Randhir Kapoor and Babita, and the elder sister of actress Kareena Kapoor.

She is the recipient of several accolades, including a National Film Award and four Filmfare Awards.

Karisma Kapoor was born on 25 June 1974 in Mumbai, to actors Randhir Kapoor and Babita (née Shivdasani).

Her younger sister, Kareena, is also a film actress.

Her paternal grandfather was the actor and filmmaker Raj Kapoor, while her maternal grandfather was actor Hari Shivdasani.

Her paternal great-grandfather was actor Prithviraj Kapoor.

The actors Rishi and Rajiv Kapoor are her uncles, while the actress Neetu Singh and entrepreneur Ritu Nanda are her aunts.

Her first cousins includes the actors Ranbir Kapoor, Armaan Jain, Aadar Jain, and Nikhil Nanda.

The actors Shammi and Shashi Kapoor are her grand-uncles, and the late actress Sadhana was her mother's first cousin.

Kapoor is informally called as "Lolo" at her home.

According to Kapoor, the name, Lolo, was derived after her mother made a passing reference to the Italian actress Gina Lollobrigida.

Both of her paternal and maternal grandparents were from Peshawar, Lyallpur and Karachi respectively, who moved to Bombay for their film careers before the partition of India.

Kapoor is of Punjabi Hindu descent on her father's side, and on her mother's side she is of Sindhi Hindu and British descent.

Particularly inspired by the work of actresses Sridevi and Madhuri Dixit, Kapoor was keen on pursuing acting since childhood.

While growing up, Kapoor regularly attended award ceremonies and accompanied her parents to film sets.

However, despite her family background, her father disapproved of women working in films, because he believed it conflicted with the traditional maternal duties and responsibility of women in the family.

This led to a conflict between her parents and they separated in 1988.

She and her sister Kareena were raised by their mother, who worked several jobs to raise them, until she made her debut in films as an actress.

Kapoor made her acting debut with the film Prem Qaidi in 1991 and subsequently played the leading lady in a number of box office hits, including Jigar (1992), Anari (1993), Raja Babu (1994), Coolie No. 1 (1995), Saajan Chale Sasural (1996), and Jeet (1996).

Kapoor made her acting debut in 1991 at the age of 17 with the romantic drama Prem Qaidi, opposite debutant Harish Kumar.

Upon release, the film emerged as a moderate box office success and received mixed reviews from critics, as did Kapoor's performance, with Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama describing it as "mechanical".

The following year, Kapoor's first five releases—Police Officer, Jaagruti, Nishchaiy, Sapne Sajan Ke and Deedar—flopped at the box office.

Jaagruti and Nishchaiy marked her first two collaborations with Salman Khan, while Deedar marked her first collaboration with Akshay Kumar.

She next starred in the action drama Jigar (1992), followed by the romantic drama Anari (1993), both of which emerged as box office hits and among the highest-grossing films of their respective years.

Jigar marked Kapoor's first of several collaborations with Ajay Devgn, while Anari featured her in the leading role of Rajnandini, a princess who falls in love with her poor servant (played by Daggubati Venkatesh).

Kapoor's next four releases of 1993 were the dramas Muqabla (which marked first of her many collaborations with Govinda), Sangraam, Shaktiman and Dhanwaan.

With the exception of Muqabla, none of these films performed well either critically or commercially.

In 1994, Kapoor had nine film releases – four of them — Prem Shakti, Dulaara, Andaz and Aatish — were critical and commercial failures.

Her first hit that year was David Dhawan's comedy film Raja Babu, opposite Govinda, in which she played Madhubala, an educated arrogant girl who calls off her engagement upon discovering her fiancée's illiteracy.

Starring roles in the top-grossing romances Raja Hindustani (1996) and Dil To Pagal Hai (1997), established her as a star.

She won the Filmfare Award for Best Actress for the former, and the National Film Award and the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress for the latter.

Kapoor cemented her status by starring in five of David Dhawan's comedies—Judwaa (1997), Hero No.1 (1997), Biwi No.1 (1999), Haseena Maan Jaayegi (1999) and Dulhan Hum Le Jayenge (2000), and the family drama Hum Saath-Saath Hain (1999).

In the early 2000s, Kapoor won the Best Actress and Best Actress (Critics) awards at Filmfare for her titular roles in the dramas Fiza (2000) and Zubeidaa (2001), respectively.

She took a sabbatical from acting after leading the television soap opera Karishma: The Miracles of Destiny (2003–2004), and has since acted sporadically, starring in the thriller Dangerous Ishhq (2012) and the web series Mentalhood (2020).

Kapoor was married to businessman Sanjay Kapur from 2003 to 2016 – the couple has two children together.

She has featured as a talent judge for several reality shows.

The couple reconciled in 2007, after living separately for several years.

Kapoor studied at the Cathedral and John Connon School and later, for a few months at Sophia College.

Kapoor later said that she left college to pursue acting for financial support.