Karisma Kapoor

Karisma Kapoor (born 25 June 1974) is an Indian film actress. One of the most popular and highest-paid Hindi film actresses in the 1990s and early 2000s, she is the recipient of several accolades, including a National Film Award and four Filmfare Awards. Born and raised in Mumbai, she is a member of the Kapoor family, where her parents and other relatives are all involved in the Indian film industry. Despite her family background, her father disliked women entering films, and separated from her mother. Kapoor, at the age of seventeen, left her studies to pursue a film career for financial support, and made her acting debut with a leading role in the moderately successful Prem Qaidi (1991). Subsequently, Kapoor starred in a number of box office hits, including the dramas Jigar (1992) and Anari (1993), the comedies Raja Babu (1994), Coolie No. 1 (1995) and Saajan Chale Sasural (1996), and the thriller Jeet (1996). However, she was criticized for her brief, repetitive roles and inclination to male-dominated films. The 1996 blockbuster romance Raja Hindustani marked a significant turning point in Kapoor's career, earning her praise and a Filmfare Award for Best Actress. She later won the National Film Award and Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of a dancer in the musical romance Dil To Pagal Hai (1997). Kapoor achieved further success by featuring as the female lead in three of David Dhawan's top grossing romantic comedies—Hero No.1 (1997), Biwi No.1 (1999) and Dulhan Hum Le Jayenge (2000), and the family drama Hum Saath-Saath Hain (1999)—and won the Best Actress and Best Actress Critics awards at Filmfare for her titular roles in the dramas Fiza (2000) and Zubeidaa (2001). She then received widespread praise for her performance in the 2002 revenge drama Shakti: The Power. Kapoor took a leave from full-time acting in 2004, and made her comeback with the 2012 supernatural thriller Dangerous Ishqq, after which she again took a leave. Kapoor was married to businessman Sanjay Kapur from 2003–2016; the couple had two children together. Her off-screen life is a subject of substantial media coverage. Kapoor has played the titular character in the television series Karishma: The Miracles of Destiny (2003–2004) and has featured as a talent judge for several reality shows.