Kareena Kapoor Khan believes that her real-life roles as “daughter, sister, wife, mother and friend” are just as essential as the characters she plays on screen, and she is grateful that she has “found a way to balance them all”. “I’ve worked hard over the last 20 years, and today, what’s most important to me is how my family, friends, fans and the audience see me,” Khan tells us.

In 2021, the actor had her second child, Jehangir, aka Jeh. Her last full-fledged role was in Good Newwz (2019), which she did after giving birth to her first child, Taimur. She presently has a handful of projects in the works, including Laal Singh Chaddha, Hansal Mehta’s next and Sujoy Ghosh’s book adaptation.

Ask her if it is a conscious decision to take it easy so that she doesn’t lose out on her children’s growing up years, and she quickly responds, “Having my kids hasn’t changed the way that I analyze scripts.” 

The 41-year-old goes on, “I have always been selective about the projects. If I genuinely find a script interesting, I am immediately on board. I am blessed to be in a position where I can pursue my career in the way I want to, while still being able to give my family the time and attention they need. For me, the right project is always about the story, character and also the people who will be with me throughout that project.”

She asserts that this shouldn’t be misjudged as “slowing down”. “It’s more about prioritization and time. We’ve all been through life-changing experiences in the past two years, and in many ways, it’s helped us all see what is most important,” says the Veere Di Wedding (2018) actor. And that’s also reflected in her career choices.

“The stories being told and the content being consumed have seen a huge change [now]. Also, what’s even more exciting is the fact that [I am being] offered interesting stories and even more interesting characters that I can take on,” she ends.