Ready to Pop

Kareena Kapoor can’t wait to become a mom. The good news: motherhood is now just a few weeks away.

- Jamal Shaikh

Here’s a pop quiz: If you were to pick one of Kareena Kapoor’s most distinguishing physical features, what would you choose? Her electric light eyes? Her once (in)famous Size Zero frame? Or her mega-watt Punjabi smile? Chances are that most of you would pick her complexion: peaches and cream, you’d say; or describe it as rosy and pink.

But, as Kareena Kapoor strides into Mehboob Studios on Monday morning to become the first Indian actress to pose for a magazine cover when eight months pregnant, the adjective gods go into a tizzy. For peaches and cream, rosy and pink, all put together can’t capture the glow on Bollywood’s newest mother-to-be.

The radiance is complemented by her gait; neck held up, head pushed back, hands protectively close to her bump, but a body language that’s confidently accepting of the child growing inside her. “My pregnancy has been such a breeze, I don’t know how time has gone by,” she says, strands of her hair flying around as a result of the fan one of the photographer’s assistants has set up. “I’ve always done yoga and have been a fit girl, and that’s key. There have been no health issues – touchwood. I’m doing ads, films, shows, brand shoots… I’m dressing up and feeling good. I also continue being active. Being pregnant doesn’t give you an excuse to be lazy. You can’t say ‘I can’t do this, I can’t do that!’ That’s the mistake most women make.”

Her primer on pregnancy isn’t over, for Bebo, as Kareena is called by those who love her most, makes a food lover’s confessional. “Of course, I’ve over-indulged in eating,” she says. “But not on desserts. I’ve binged on biryani and other ‘Kapoor foods’ like payas… It’s the one time you can allow yourself to let go, no?”