POV: I miss over the top Kareena Kapoor from the early 2000s and I wish she was back on my screen!

There’s no one in all of Bollywood who can make even the most basic scene look extravagant and that is exactly why I love her!

As an early 2000s kid, I have grown up watching tons of Kareena Kapoor movies like Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, Main Prem Ki Deewani Hoon, 36 China Town, Mujhse Dosti Karoge and lots more! With each film, I grew to be a bigger fan of hers and inculcated a lot of her dramatic nuances into the way I talk in my daily life. That’s when it struck me that it’s not her glam or clothes that I am a fan of, it’s just her being unabashedly over the top and her nonchalance about it. Subtlety was never her forte and thank God for that! Imagine not having a masterpiece like Kasam Ki Kasam? The way she lip syncs on that song with the utmost amount of conviction will never not be iconic!

Remember the funeral scene in Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham? For someone who had no idea about which character died, she sobbed like it was someone she personally knew. Only and only she can break in and out of character like that! Kapoor is the undisputed queen of melodrama, her acting is gloriously over the top, whether it was the exaggerated expressions, the dramatic dialogue delivery, or her all-out sass as Pooh or Geet - I fell in love with her, one film at a time! She brought an infectious energy and bold charisma to the screen that made her impossible to ignore. Especially when she was being extra, I couldn't help but be drawn to her - it was that unfiltered charm and confidence that made her an absolute Y2K icon we still adore! Her burst of expressions are also the reason why she aced comedy films like Golmaal 2 and Kambakkht Ishq. I mean who else has an entire song about themselves and dances to it like it’s the anthem of the year?

Many might call it overacting, but I’d say it’s a genre of its own, and just like me, there are a plethora of Gen Z’s who’ll never get over her filmography! She owns every film of hers and every scene oozes out drama like it’s nobody’s business and hence it feels like no one can really make fun of her, when she herself wears these films like a badge of honor! While I’m happy that as a two-decade leading actress she is portraying the roles she really wants to today and experimenting with her career, I cannot help but wish for another film that brings back the old Kareena Kapoor! Even though social media today does not take two minutes before giving their opinions on an actor, I can still place my bets on the fact that a dramatic, dipped in sass, OTT Kareena Kapoor film would have cinemas packed even today! 

Happy Birthday to the queen bee of Bollywood and here’s to bringing back the Y2K version of her on-screen soon!

For more entertainment, follow us on @socialketchupbinge