Kareena Kapoor was born as Kareena Randhir Kapoor on 21 September 1980 in Bombay, Maharashtra, India. She belongs to the renowned Kapoor family, one of the most influential families in the history of Indian cinema. Her parents are actors Randhir Kapoor and Babita, and her elder sister is actress Karisma Kapoor. Her paternal grandfather was legendary actor and filmmaker Raj Kapoor, while her great-grandfather was Prithviraj Kapoor.
She attended Jamnabai Narsee School in Mumbai and later studied at Welham Girls' School in Dehradun. She briefly attended Government Law College in Mumbai before deciding to pursue acting and joining the Kishore Namit Kapoor Acting School.
Kareena made her acting debut opposite Abhishek Bachchan in Refugee (2000). Her performance earned her the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut, establishing her as a promising new actress.
She gained widespread popularity with films including Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... (2001), Mujhe Kucch Kehna Hai (2001), Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon (2003), Aitraaz (2004), and Hulchul (2004). Her willingness to take on unconventional roles became particularly evident with Chameli (2003), for which she received the Filmfare Award for Best Performance.
One of the most important performances of her career came in Omkara (2006), where she played Dolly Mishra, an adaptation of Desdemona from Shakespeare's Othello. Her performance received widespread critical acclaim and earned her major awards.
Kareena reached another career high with Jab We Met (2007), in which she played the energetic and outspoken Geet. The role became one of the most iconic female characters in modern Hindi cinema and earned her the Filmfare Award for Best Actress.
She subsequently appeared in commercially successful films such as 3 Idiots (2009), Bodyguard (2011), Ra.One (2011), Talaash (2012), Bajrangi Bhaijaan (2015), Ki & Ka (2016), Veere Di Wedding (2018), and Laal Singh Chaddha (2022).
In recent years, Kareena has continued to work in films including The Buckingham Murders (2023), Crew (2024), and Singham Again (2024). IMDb also lists upcoming projects including Daayra and an untitled project with Kiara Advani.
Kareena married actor Saif Ali Khan on 16 October 2012. They have two sons, Taimur Ali Khan and Jehangir Ali Khan.