Kareena Kapoor Khan: Tashan was the bigger film, but Jab We Met surprised us!

Kareena Kapoor shot Jab We Met when she was getting into `size zero` for Tashan

Back in 2006-2007, Kareena Kapoor Khan was working on two films at the same time - Jab We Met and Tashan. Tashan required a lot of work - Kareena was getting into the so-called 'size zero' figure, setting trends for the Yash Raj production, which also starred Saif Ali Khan and Shahid Kapoor. Kareena gave her dates for Jab We Met because she was preparing for Tashan. In a conversation with Mid-day, director Imtiaz Ali revealed that he literally had a "window of 21 days" to start shooting for his film.

During the launch of the Kareena Kapoor Khan Film Festival, the actress said that she had high hopes from Tashan, but Jab We Met surprised her. "I was shooting Tashan and Jab We Met simultaneously. Tashan was a really big film with Akshay Kumar, Anil Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan - it was a YRF film. Jab We Met did not have any big names attached to it at that point. Imtiaz had done just one film. I thought, 'Tashan is going to be amazing, I am going to have this amazing body and I am doing action'. My focus was on Tashan. But then Jab We Met released, and - not that Tashan isn't special - but people just loved Jab We Met. No one had really thought that. Magic just happens," she said.

Kareena, granddaughter of Hindi cinema icon Raj Kapoor, debuted as an actor with JP Dutta's Refugee, opposite Abhishek Bachchan, in 2000. She soon established herself as one of the top leading ladies of Bollywood with critically-acclaimed and commercially successful movies such as Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, Yuva, Chameli, Omkara, Jab We Met, Talaash: The Answer Lies Within, Udta Punjab, 3 Idiots, Bajrangi Bhaijaan, Golmaal 3, Veere Di Wedding and Crew to her credit.

The 43-year-old actor said when she entered the industry, the focus was on proving herself and featuring in as many films as possible. "After a decade, if you are able to sustain, it's also about the question of reinvention, which is very scary in an industry that is male-dominated. But over the years we have had a lot of great actresses apart from me who've also taken big strides. While straddling the fact that I've done films with the big superstars and all those are successful films, I've also had a career which I've simultaneously done to prove myself as an actor because I think the longevity of an actor is only possible if they also repeatedly prove their talent," Kareena said.