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When Karisma Kapoor admitted she’s ‘super protective’ of Kareena Kapoor ever since she entered the industry: ‘She’s my first baby’

Karisma Kapoor says nobody from her illustrious film family ever forced her or her younger sister Kareena Kapoor to enter the movies.

Kareena Kapoor and Karisma Kapoor are super protective of each other till today, said the latter.

Karisma Kapoor was one of the first women from the legendary Kapoor household to enter the movies. Her late grand-uncles Shashi Kapoor and Shammi Kapoor’s respective wives Geeta Bali and Jennifer Kendal were also actors who continued to perform even after getting married into the Kapoor household. Her mother Babita Kapoor and aunt Neetu Kapoor were also actors, who quit the job after tying the knot.

After Karisma, her younger sister Kareena Kapoor followed suit, making her debut with JP Dutta’s 2000 romantic film Refugee. Karisma admitted last year in a panel discussion at Harvard Business School that she was protective of Kareena when she entered the movies. “Of course, we’re super protective of each other even till today. But she’s such a strong personality. As a child also, she just knew what she wanted. She just had that quality of focus, so I always knew she’d be bang on,” said Karisma.

During the interaction, Karisma Kapoor referred to Kareena Kapoor as her “first baby.” “Of course, I was super protective. She’s my first baby. Then there’s Samaira, Kiaan, Taimur, and Jeh. So I have a lot of kids (laughs),” added Karisma. She married businessman Sunjay Kapur in 2003, and had two kids with him — daughter Samaira and son Kiaan. However, she separated from Sunjay in 2016. Her ex-husband died earlier this year.

Meanwhile, Kareena married her Tashan co-star Saif Ali Khan in 2012. They’re parents to two boys — Taimur Ali Khan and Jehangir Ali Khan aka Jeh. Not only “Tim” and “Jeh”, but Karisma and Kareena also have popular nicknames — Lolo and Bebo, respectively. In the same conversation, Karisma revealed how their adorable nicknames came to be.

“My mum used to be a huge fan of Gina Lollobrigida (legendary Italian actor). And then my mother is Sindhi, so they make lolo-loli, which they call a sweet roti in Sindhi. And that’s how I got my nickname, Lolo, keeping up with the tradition of funny pet names that run in my family, which is Dabboo (father Randhir Kapoor), Chintu (late Rishi Kapoor), Chimpu (uncle, late Rajiv Kapoor),” pointed out Karisma. When Kareena was born a few years after Karisma, their father Randhir decided to nickname her Bebo because it rhymed with Lolo.

Also Read — Randhir Kapoor, Babita decided to ‘spend old age holding hands’ after years of staying apart, reveals Kareena Kapoor: ‘A divine intervention for me, Karisma’

Karisma Kapoor also recalled how entering movies for both her and Kareena Kapoor was entirely their decision, not their family’s, despite them hailing from an illustrious film family. “To be honest, nobody forced either me or my sister into this profession. It was purely for the love of cinema, of acting, that just organically happened. Of course, we used to discuss it at home within the family. But nobody told us, ‘Hey! You have to continue the tradition’ or ‘Do you want to?’ It just came from within us. And I think that’s how we’ve had such long careers. It’s purely out of the love for performing,” said Karisma.

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