When Kareena Kapoor spoke about watching Karisma Kapoor cry in her days of struggle: ‘I’ve seen too much’

Actor Karisma Kapoor celebrates her 47th birthday on Friday, June 25. She was among the most popular stars of 90s Bollywood and has worked with actors such as Akshay Kumar, Govinda, Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan.

While Karisma Kapoor belongs to one of Bollywood’s most prestigious families, success and work did not come easy for her. Her younger sister, Kareena Kapoor, also joined the film industry a few years later. During an interview with Simi Garewal, Kareena had spoken in detail about Karisma’s days of struggle as a young actor in Bollywood.

Kareena Kapoor said that she would watch her elder sister cry for nights on end to their mother, actor Babita Kapoor. “I have seen my sister sit up for nights together with my mother and cry, saying that people are putting her down and that she would never make it. I would hide behind and watch because they would never want me to see the pain they were going through. I’ve seen too much,” she said.

Kareena added that it would hurt her too to watch her sister cry. “As a child, I have seen a lot with my mother, my sister. I have lived their lives with them, gone through their traumas. I think I have seen my sister cry for nights together to go to sleep when she was struggling. And that hurts me. Anything that hurts my loved ones hurts me. That’s what makes me the person I am,” she added.

When asked if her sister struggles dissuaded her from becoming an actor too, she said, “Not at all. It made me so strong. If I may say so, I feel like a man. I can take on anything in the world. Any amount of pain, any amount of people trying to put me down. I would fight that because I have seen my mother and my sister go through that struggle and I am ready for that.”

Also read: When Kareena Kapoor Khan talked about equation with Rani Mukerji: ‘She has seen me cry’

In 2014, Karisma also talked about Kareena and how they were both successful actors. “I think there has never been a precedence where two sisters in Bollywood have been successful working simultaneously as heroines in same decade or same generation. I think we have been lucky and fortunate to have had great careers,” she had told PTI.

Karisma took a long break from acting after her kids–Samaira and Kiaan– were born. Last year, she returned to the screen with the web series Mentalhood. Kareena also has two children. She welcomed her second son in February but has not revealed his name yet.