Being Bollywood’s latest style icon is no easy task. Kareena Kapoor, who is not taking her newfound title lightly, intends to go on a long shopping spree to various fashion capitals around the world. She says, “I have to. When I go abroad nowadays, I find myself spending more time in the shops than holidaying. It’s a responsibility. And I do need to be chic all the time. Designer Aki Narula has set impossible standards of fashion for me through my films. Now I’ve no choice but to live up to those standards. I’ve raised the bar for fashion. Commenting on her global shopping spree, Kareena says, “I constantly need to be well dressed. Everything I wear is under the media glare. It’s the price I have to pay.It is very tiring, but I must confess it’s also flattering. I’m really proud to be called stylish.
But my being a fashion icon also depends on my attitude and mood of the moment.Now that Aki Narula has designed her clothes in Kambakkht Ishq and Qurbaan and not Manish Malhotra, is she shifting loyalties? “No. I love Aki’s work and plan to often use his clothes. Aki has again made me look so special in Qurbaan. But Manish and I go back a long way. He dressed up my sister to stardom and then me. We’re not the kind of people who move on in our friendships,” she says.Talking about the designers who she will work with in her forthcoming films, she says, “The clothes and designer depend on the character and film.I am back with Manish Malhotra for 3 Idiots and the remake of Stepmom in which I will be dressed up as a stylish young girl.
I am also planning to cut my hair. I have a minimal look in my forthcoming films, Qurbaan and 3 Idiots. People will be shocked when they see me in Qurbaan. If I can carry off Kolhapuri chappals in Omkara, I am as much at home in Jimmy Choos in KI. I’m equally proud of both kinds of films.”
