Born in Mumbai, India, on 21 September 1980, into the Kapoor
film family, Kapoor is the younger daughter of actors Randhir
Kapoor and Babita ( Shivdasani); her elder sister Karisma, is also
an actress. Often informally referred to as Bebo she is the granddaughter of actor and filmmaker Raj Kapoor and niece of actor Rishi Kapoor. According to Kapoor, the name "Kareena" was derived from the book Anna Karenina, which her mother read while she was pregnant with he She is of Punjabi descent from her father's side and on her mother's side she is Sindhi.
As a child, she had strong aspirations to become an actress, and was particularly inspired by watching the films of Bollywood actresses Nargis and Meena Kumari. Kapoor, who describes herself as a "very naughty [and] spoilt child", would regularly dress up in her mother's clothes and perform in front of the mirror.Despite her family background, her father disapproved of women entering the acting profession because he believed it conflicted with the traditional maternal duties and responsibility of women in the family. This led to a conflict between her parents and resulted in Kapoor's mother leaving the house with her daughters After her parents' separation, she was raised in Lokhandwala by her mother, who worked several jobs to support her daughters until Karisma debuted as an actress in 199 In an interview with Vir Sanghvi, Kapoor said that growing up in a household filled with women helped her become strong and independent.Following her parents' reconciliation in October 2007 Kapoor explained that they "were never officially divorced ... [but] ... liv[ed] separately." Asked about the relationship she shared with her father, Kapoor remarked, "My father is ... an important factor in my life. [Al]though we did not see him often in our initial years, we are a family now.
Kapoor attended Jamnabai Narsee School in Mumbai before progressing to Welham Girls Boarding School in Dehradun. She later recalled, "I learnt so much from being at Welham", and described her experience there as "one of the finest parts of my life] According to Kapoor, she was a good student and received first-class honours in all subjects except mathematics Upon graduating from the boarding school, she studied commerce for two years at Mithibai College in Vile Parle, Mumbai, but later confessed that she only studied there because she was close to her famil Kapoor then registered for a three-month summer course in microcomputers at Harvard University in the United States. She later developed an interest in law and enrolled at the Government Law College inChurchgate; during this period she became immersed in law books and developed a long-lasting passion for reading. However, after completing one year at Churchgate, Kapoor realized that she was not inclined towards academics and returned to her initial plan to become an actress. She began training at an acting institute in Andheri, mentored by Kishore Namit Kapoor, a member of theFilm and Television Institute of India (FTII)
