Kareena Kapoor was born to a family of actors, her mother Babita being a Sindhi speaker and her father Randhir Kapoor a Punjabi speaker, in the city of Bombay, India. She has an elder sister, Karisma, who is also an actress.
Kareena comes from a long line of actors, with her paternal great-grandfather Prithviraj Kapoor, grandfather Raj Kapoor, and paternal uncles Shammi, Shashi, Rishi, and Rajiv all being well-known actors. Her aunt Neetu Singh and Jennifer Kendall, the wives of Rishi and Shashi respectively, are also actresses. On her maternal side, her grandfather Hari Shivdasani and aunt Sadhana were also actors.
As a child, Kareena studied at the prestigious Jamnabai Narsee School in Juhu, Bombay, and later attended the Welham Girls' Boarding School in Dehra Dun. She then spent three months at Harvard University taking a course in information technology and microcomputers before returning to India to study law at the Government Law College in Churchgate, Bombay. However, she left law school after one year to enroll in the Kishore Namit Kapoor Acting School.
Kareena made her film debut in 2000 with the movie Refugee, alongside Abhishek Bachchan. She went on to appear in 31 other Hindi movies, winning four awards for her performances in Refugee, Chameli, Dev, and Omkara.
Today, Kareena is considered one of the most sought-after actresses in Bollywood, with an enviable A-listing and a reputation as a bankable star. She is set to appear in a number of upcoming movies, including Tashan, Lajjo, and Kismat Talkies.
In 2012, Kareena married actor Saif Ali Khan, son of actress Sharmila Tagore.