Kareena Kapoor Khan on size zero: I was 27 and I wanted to do it for a role

It might be over a year since her last release but the country’s obsession with the actor persists. At last count, there were over 100 Kareena Kapoor fan accounts on Instagram, and her many fan pages on Facebook come from places as far and diverse as Sierra Leone and Algeria. On Vogue.in, she continues to be one of the most searched celebrities, month on month. The internet is routinely buzzing with news on the star—this week it was photos of her at lunch with her girl gang as well as those seen supporting sister-in-law Soha Ali Khan at her book launch.

She looks amused when I ask her about this constant curiosity and scrutiny into her life. “I guess people are curious because they don’t really know that much about my life. I’ve always been honest, but I’m also ferociously private. I’m not on social media, Saif isn’t on social media. I don’t want to put stuff out there. I’ve worn my success lightly, and also my failures. It’s all a part of the journey that’s made me who I am and brought me to where I am right now,” she says.

And right now, having just finished shooting a film, spending time with family and friends is where she’d like to be. Her happy place is one with a perfect balance—where family, work and wellness all find the right equilibrium.

Physically, Kareena’s in the best shape of her life. Much column space has been dedicated to her changing shape over the years, from the much-debated size zero in 2009 to her pregnancy look more recently. At size zero, she was definitely hot, but today the new mom is fit—still glowing, despite that cold. “I don’t know how the size-zero thing started—but I was only 27 and I wanted to do it for a role. It looked amazing, but that was then. I’ve been in the business for a long time since, and I’m more mature—now, it’s about being fit. I’m definitely comfortable in my skin right now.”

The 20 kilos that Kareena put on during her pregnancy are long gone, thanks to a diet of healthy eating and regular workouts. “I’ve never been fat, but I’m a Punjabi girl—I like my food. I ate well when I was pregnant—sometimes too well. I’d put away six parathas, and eat white butter. But I avoided all processed foods and kept myself super active. Two months after Taimur was born, I started working out, first with light workouts, then to cardio, yoga and Pilates a few times a week.”

Former model and Kareena’s all-round bestie since they were teenagers, Amrita Arora Ladak says that despite all the drama surrounding her, Kareena has always found a way to keep it real. “She doesn’t let it affect her at all. There’s no sense of grandeur about Kareena. She’s always been really normal, doing regular things, surrounding herself with real friends, not sycophants,” explains Ladak, who, along with her sister Malaika Arora and Kareena’s own sister Karisma Kapoor, is part of the trusted inner circle that surrounds Kareena.

IT TAKES A VILLAGE
The conversation soon turns to the real star of the family—baby Taimur, who just celebrated his first birthday. Taimur has been the focus of much attention, ever since he was born, and everything about him (including his parents’ choice of name for him) has been dissected and discussed at great length by the country’s press. Surprisingly, and tellingly, this doesn’t bother the Khans. They have bigger and better things commanding their attention: like how they want to bring up their son—quietly and well.

Both Saif and Kareena were themselves raised by high-profile parents, but both were consciously kept out of the limelight growing up—Saif was sent to school in England, while Kareena’s parents tried to keep it as normal as they could for someone born into Bollywood’s first family. Those were different times, though; the paparazzi was not as aggressive and intimidating as it is today.

In a phone conversation, Saif tells me how little it bothers him: “Attention is a funny thing,” he says, “The more you avoid it, the more chaos it creates.”

He also tells me how much he’s enjoyed watching Kareena transform over the years from a young girl to a very-much-in-control mother. “I love that she’s such a committed, concerned mother. She’s always been a very loving person, but having Taimur has just brought a different love and warmth to her. When she carries Taimur, he looks so much like her; he’s an extension of her.”

Read the complete interview in Vogue India’s January 2018 issue that hits stands on January 2, 2018

On Kareena: Bikini top and bottom, Melissa Odabash. Dress, rings; all Gucci.

Photographed by Errikos Andreou. Styled by Anaita Shroff Adajania

Hair: Gabriel Georgiou/ Anima Creative Management. Make-up: Mickey Contractor. Assistant stylist: Ria Kamat. Photographer’s assistant: Chinnu Nair. Make-up assistant: Sahil Shaikh. Photographer’s agency: DEU: Creative Management. Lighting team: Aura Production and Management. Production: Divya Jagwani. Location courtesy: Amanpuri, Phuket, Thailand

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