By Fuad Omar
Kareena Kapoor. Two words, one name. The name means many things to various
people. She's a daughter to two, a sister to one, a child to some and screen
goddess to others.
This article is not to discuss her family background, inform you of her
future films nor dissect idle gossip which seems to find its way into
certain publications without just cause. This piece is simply to take you
back and share with you the unveiling of a future screen icon. Like an
obsessed painter wandering around his muse, while flashing bursts of colour
around a canvas aiming to share with the world his glimpse of the ray of
light he has seen in his subject, I attempt to present to you Miss Kareena
Kapoor. Without the gossip, without the attachments, just plain and simply
the enchanting enigma. Read on if you dare.
Flashback to the millennium:
the hysteria surrounding the release of Refugee
for the film marks the arrival of two new talented breeds of blood into an
industry which thrives on influx. I remember my first glimpse in the
excellently executed promos of the movie of Kareena and how the burkha
danced in unison with the wind slowly, unveiling the delicate face of the
star of tomorrow. Leading to an excitement I had rarely experienced
throughout my journalistic career, I rummaged through every article I could
find which would carry interviews with the film's stars, in particular
Kareena and found a muse worthy of praise. Her interview was from some
online website counting down to Refugee's release, and the single line I
read gave birth to my desire to interview the young Kapoor: "I don't want to be known as a star, I'm here to make it as an
actress."
Fortune favours the brave and with a flash of enthusiasm such as hers,
delicate features which struck deep, I knew from that moment on there was to
be a screen legend in my lifetime. I recall seeing some stills, collating my inspiration, drawing on all I could find and
writing away for a series of articles to be published at short intervals
which would one by one unravel the enigma that is her and explain the
bewitching beauty's charm which would enchant with a look alone.
A 'love-sick scribe' I called myself, doubting my own fascination with a new
actress who had yet to prove herself among her contemporaries. When I sat
and observed a series of photographs of Kareena, be they stills from
Refugee, or pictures by everyone from Gautam Rajadhyaksha and Subi Samuel to
Akash Srivastava, I discovered what it is about her that had spawned the
spark within me and began my instinctive journey to follow her career.
A painter paints a picture that speaks a thousand words. Photographers
attempt to achieve the same effect, but frequently fail, not because of
their lack of skill, but simply because their subject does not strike with
the same honest vulnerability that each brush stroke of paint exudes. An
actress is one who acts, not only when she's on screen, but even when she's
on paper. With a look in her eye she can narrate a novel. Her eyes can dance
around the lens and she can convey a rainbow of emotions through a single
black and white shot. After Madhuri Dixit if there is another actress whose
look can command attention, whose depth can scream with emotion without so
as to utter a sound, it is Kareena Kapoor.
A hair blower pushes her hair back, a soft light illuminates her face, and
her eyes penetrate through the lensman's eye straight into the soul of
whoever sets their sights on the result. The glow reminds you of the days of
Madhubala and haunting nostalgic songs, the look more striking than Nargis'
and the essence says 'actress to the core'. Not since the golden age of
Hindi cinema has someone emerged who has been able to revive such
reminiscence that they convey a look that speaks volumes over words. Kareena
looks like someone who has escaped through the windows of time from the
silent film era, picked up a glowing tint from the golden silver-screen
heroines and is emerging at a time when she is much needed.
All that from just a look? A picture? No, there's more.
Watch Refugee. See her performance. The one which gained her the Best
Newcomer Award, and study her every gaze on screen, her quiver, her emotion.
Observe the restricted fury when she gives Sunil Shetty hell for hurting
Abishek and watch the camera dance around her as though its lens was created
to attempt to capture her.
See the spark? Feel the excitement? Remember the pictures?
Ladies and Gentleman, I present to you your first step to unravelling the
enigma that is Kareena Kapoor.
Watch the skies, a bright star is about to
shine.
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