Karisma Kapoor: Biography, Films, Children and Family

The first Kapoor daughter to act

Karisma Kapoor was born on 25 Jun 1974 in Bombay (now Mumbai) to the actors Randhir Kapoor and Babita (née Shivdasani). Her grandfather was Raj Kapoor and her great-grandfather Prithviraj Kapoor. Rishi Kapoor was her uncle, which makes Ranbir Kapoor her cousin. Her younger sister is Kareena Kapoor.

The Kapoor family had a long-standing unwritten rule that its women didn't act in films; Babita had stopped working when she married. Karisma broke it. With her mother's backing, she became the first woman born into the family to have a film career, and Kareena followed her nine years later.

Debut at 16: Prem Qaidi

She was 16 when she made her debut as the lead in Prem Qaidi (1991), opposite another newcomer, Harish Kumar. It did moderately well, but her next five releases flopped. She then had a run of commercial hits through 1992–96, mostly in dance-heavy, glamorous parts: Jigar (1992), Anari (1993), Raja Babu (1994), Andaz Apna Apna (1994), Coolie No. 1 (1995), Saajan Chale Sasural (1996) and Jeet (1996). Critics often dismissed the roles as repetitive. Muqabla (1993) was the first of her many films with Govinda, and in 1994 the action drama Suhaag, with Ajay Devgn and Akshay Kumar, and the comedy Gopi Kishan, with Suniel Shetty, both did well.

Raja Hindustani changes everything

Dharmesh Darshan's Raja Hindustani (1996), opposite Aamir Khan, was the turning point. She played Aarti, a rich heiress who falls for a taxi driver and tour guide. It was the highest-grossing Hindi film of the year and won her the Filmfare Award for Best Actress. India Today's Anupama Chopra called her "a revelation" in the film.

Dil To Pagal Hai and a National Award

In Yash Chopra's Dil To Pagal Hai (1997) she played Nisha, a dancer in love with her best friend, played by Shah Rukh Khan, who falls for Madhuri Dixit's character instead. She was reluctant to take a supporting role at first, but it won her the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress and the Filmfare Best Supporting Actress award. Her dance-off with Madhuri Dixit is still one of the film's best-known scenes.

David Dhawan comedies and the late-90s peak

She was then the female lead in three of David Dhawan's most successful comedies, Hero No. 1 (1997), Biwi No. 1 (1999) and Dulhan Hum Le Jayenge (2000), and appeared in Haseena Maan Jaayegi (1999). With Raja Hindustani and these films, she was one of the highest-paid actresses of the late 1990s.

Fiza and Zubeidaa: the serious turn

Two serious roles brought her the best reviews of her career:

1. Fiza (2000): Khalid Mohamed's drama, in which she played a young woman searching for her brother after the 1993 Bombay riots, opposite Hrithik Roshan. It won her a second Filmfare Best Actress award.
2. Zubeidaa (2001): Shyam Benegal's film about the actress Zubeida Begum, who married the Maharaja of Jodhpur, Hanwant Singh. She won the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress, and The Tribune wrote that she had "surpassed herself".

She followed them with Shakti: The Power (2002), opposite Nana Patekar, as Nandini, a widow trying to escape her in-laws' feudal feud with her son. Baaz: A Bird in Danger (2003), with Dino Morea, was her only release the next year and did poorly.

Marriage and the long break

She married the industrialist Sunjay Kapur on 29 Sep 2003 at the family home in Mumbai. They had a daughter, Samaira, born on 11 Mar 2005, and a son, Kiaan, born on 12 Mar 2010. In the same period she made her television debut in Sahara One's Karishma: The Miracles of Destiny (2003–04), playing a grandmother and her granddaughter; it ran for 260 episodes.

She largely stopped acting after Mere Jeevan Saathi (2006, shot in 2003). She later said the break was "a conscious decision" because her children were very young. She judged dance and comedy shows on television, including Nach Baliye 4 (2008) and Hans Baliye (2009), and toured North America with Hrithik Roshan, Kareena, Arjun Rampal and Aftab Shivdasani in The Heartthrobs: Live in Concert.

The marriage ended badly. The couple filed for divorce by mutual consent in 2014, withdrew it, and the divorce was finalised in 2016, after a bitter custody dispute and a domestic violence complaint she filed against Kapur and his mother.

Comeback: Dangerous Ishhq, Mentalhood and Murder Mubarak

She returned to the lead in Dangerous Ishhq (2012), which flopped, made a special appearance in Zero (2018) and moved to streaming with Ekta Kapoor's series Mentalhood (2020). In Homi Adajania's Netflix mystery Murder Mubarak (2024) she played a fading star, and it earned her a Filmfare OTT Awards nomination.

Brown and India's Best Dancer (2026)

In ZEE5's seven-episode crime series Brown (June 2026), based on Abheek Barua's novel City of Death, she plays Rita Brown, a troubled, alcoholic Kolkata detective. India Today called it a haunting slow-burn noir anchored by her performance; the Hindustan Times praised the raw performance but found the series too slow. In 2026 she also returned as a judge on Sony TV's India's Best Dancer for its fifth season, with Geeta Kapur, Terence Lewis and Jaaved Jaaferi, a show she had first judged in 2024.

Sunjay Kapur's death and the estate case

Sunjay Kapur, chairman of the auto-parts maker Sona Comstar, died in the UK on 12 Jun 2025 after a heart attack during a polo match. Karisma's children, Samaira and Kiaan, then went to the Delhi High Court challenging the will produced by his widow, Priya Sachdev Kapur, which reportedly left most of his personal assets to her. Each child is claiming a one-fifth share as a Class-1 heir; Sunjay's mother, Rani Kapur, has also questioned the will.

On 30 Apr 2026 Justice Jyoti Singh ruled that suspicions over the unregistered will must be cleared at trial, and until then restrained Priya Kapur from selling or transferring his assets, including shares in three Indian companies, bank accounts and crypto holdings, according to The Indian Express. The trial is pending.

Family at a glance

The Kapoor and Khan families celebrate festivals together, and Karisma joined Kareena, Saif Ali Khan, their sons and Alia Bhatt for Diwali in November 2026, according to The Times of India.

Awards

She has a National Film Award and four Filmfare Awards from eight nominations: Best Actress for Raja Hindustani and Fiza, Best Supporting Actress for Dil To Pagal Hai and Best Actress (Critics) for Zubeidaa.

Net worth

There is no verified figure. She isn't among the actors on the Hurun India Rich List, and the large sums on celebrity-wealth sites are unsourced. Her income comes from films, streaming, television judging and brand endorsements.

Why she matters

Karisma opened the door for Kapoor women in films, and her 1996–2001 run, from Raja Hindustani to Zubeidaa, still stands among the strongest of any Hindi film actress of her generation. Thirty-five years after Prem Qaidi she's working again in streaming and TV, while her children's court case keeps her family in the news.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

1. The Indian Express: Delhi HC relief to Karisma Kapoor's children over Sunjay Kapur's assets, 30 Apr 2026
2. India Today: Brown review, Karisma Kapoor anchors a slow-burn noir, 5 Jun 2026
3. Hindustan Times: Brown review
4. Moneycontrol: India's Best Dancer 5 judges, Karisma Kapoor and Jaaved Jaaferi
5. The Times of India: Kapoor-Khan Diwali with Taimur and Jeh, 10 Nov 2026
6. Wikipedia: Karisma Kapoor (cross-checked filmography, awards and family)

Facts checked against the sources above by Tulasiram Pemmadi on 13 Nov 2026 (IST). Where reliable sources disagree, the article says so. Spotted an error? See our corrections page or email contact@nextplayintel.com.

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