How did Kareena survive 2+ decades while her contemporaries didn't?

Actresses in Bollywood have such short lifespan - not a decade goes by that they disappear. Even one of the biggest superstars in Bollywood Madhuri could not sustain her career after a decade or so (slowly became irrelevant post DTPH).

How has Kareena managed to surpass all her contemporaries and still remain relevant, being pitted against Alia and others?

If I look at her career, she has never been the number one, always got overshadowed by some of her contemporaries, but funnily enough, the number one disappears after a few years - But Kareena remains.

When she first debuted, she was pitted against Amisha and Gracy, who were considered promising actresses in Bollywood. Of course both became history before even tasting success. Then came the Rani/Preity era. Rani was critically acclaimed, Preity was super popular with the audience, and Kareena was made to the butt of all jokes, lambasted for her bad acting and bad attitude. But Rani/Preity disappeared in the blink of an eye, and Kareena's career only got stronger (post JWM).

Then came the Priyanka/Vidya era. Vidya pretty much snatched all the awards from her every year (Paa instead of Kurbaan/3I, Kahani instead of Heroine etc). And then Vidya disappeared too, giving flops after flops, and while Priyanka is a big name as a star, she isn't a very big name as an actress anymore.

I haven't followed Bollywood since then, but I hear she then faced competition with Deepika/Sonam etc, and then finally with Alia and the likes.

Only Sridevi probably had a career like that. But while Sri was very popular, Kareena isn't exactly the darlling of the audience. I do not hear that people going gaga over her. It's just that ... she has this sustaining quality and she is a big brand name that everyone recognizes.

So what is it that she has that others lacked?

You can't call nepotism because Karishma disappeared by early 2000s. You can't say talent because lots of talented actresses like Tabu were not commercially successful.

So what is her X factor?

She has the X factor, and reinvents. She is smart, she knows that to stay relevant she has to do commercial films and then does a few critically acclaimed work here and there to balance it out.

She's beautiful and talented. She also has a supportive and loving husband who lets her basically set her timeline in their marriage. When to have kids, her choice.
and absolutely agree with you. Nepotism doesn't help you survive 20 years. The list of starkids that crashed and burned within a few years is far too long.

LOL knew you would be the first responder.

I think it's a combination of them all. Nepotism helped her in the first year to launch her in a big way, then her not getting steretyped into the YRF/KJO route and doing challenging work, her versatility helped her carve her own niche, then popular movies like 3I or good performances like Heroine, the fact that she still looks good and young (very important in Bollywood), and her great PR. She knows how to remain in news -- first it was her bad attitude and controversies, then size 0, then Saifeena, etc etc. When you can stay in news like that, people will not foreget you.

And then there's X factor and luck. She somehow survived. I suppose it's a combination of all factors.

Here is a theory: in retrospect everybody who made it or survived in BW has X factor. Apply it to everyone and confirm your biases.

She looks like this post having a kid ❤️

Real talk talent/x factor and maybe people like her personally so they work with her. 👍🏼

Abhishek Bachchan is also surviving. What's the big deal for nepo kids to survive without giving clear solo hits.

Originally posted by: prerna4rishav

Abhishek Bachchan is also surviving. What's the big deal for nepo kids to survive without giving clear solo hits.

You're joking right? Kareena's giving hits and successes. Hits like Veere (no male superstars), Good Newwz (Main female lead), Udta Punjab, Ki and Ki. To compare her to Abhishek is a joke. The dude goes years without any release. Kareena's had a release every year barring 2020

Originally posted by: desigal90

You're joking right? Kareena's giving hits and successes. Hits like Veere (no male superstars), Good Newwz (Main female lead), Udta Punjab, Ki and Ki. To compare her to Abhishek is a joke. The dude goes years without any release. Kareena's had a release every year barring 2020

2017 also but I think that was maternity leave.

Her strong desire to stay relevant in public, so using various means like PR machinery, too much exposure on social media and top most strong connections with bollywood mafia.