Bebo’s back with her spitfire attitude an

Kareena Kapoor has had a quiet year by her own vociferous standards. This after her winning critical acclaim with Omkara last year, and the sensational number in Don. Both her acts somehow helped her consolidate her position, making up on the lost ground in the past couple of years.

Dwindling fortunes at the box-office, and falling out of favour with the big banners has changed Kareena. The fiery, muhphat girl has been replaced by minding-her-own-business, not-crossing-swords-with-anyone type of docile bombshell. Whatever happened to the spitfire actress?

"Well, the fire's still there," she declares. "But I have learned to use it constructively. Today the fire's there to do good work and get my due as an actress. I think i haven't realised any where close to my potential as an actress. And that's what i am trying to achieve now."

Is she saying she hasn't consciously changed her public image because she had ruffled too many feathers and can't afford to do so any more? "Firstly, i don't know why people say I am not doing as well as I could have," she says defensively. "I think my career has been rocking at every stage of my life. Of course your idea of happening might be very different from mine, but I think my career has been always at a place that I wanted it to be. I have no complains. Yes, there have been failures but who doesn't have failures? And I have learned from each of my failures and grown through them. As far as being calmer is concerned, it has got nothing to do with how people perceive me. I still don't care about people's perception of me, because they don't know me at all. Very few people around me know me, and i like it to be that way," she says strongly.

Her favourite word 'rocking' brings us to the number she did this year, It's rocking, which has been the highlight of her year so far. After making up with Karan Johar, gaining an entry into Yashraj camp and signing Mani Ratnam's Lajjo it was supposed to be Kareena's year. But it still doesn't seem to be heading in that direction.

"Well, I am really looking forward to Lajjo because I love working with Mani Sir, he gave me such a beautiful role in Yuva. And who wouldn't want to work with Aamir Khan?," she asks adding, "And yes, I am working with Yashraj for Tashan with Akshay Kumar and Saif, and i am quite sure the film's going to be spectacular. So I'm in a pretty good place."

For someone who had taken on the big banners once by standing up against Karan Johar during Kal Ho Na Ho, has Kareena eaten humble pie now. Not the one to yield defeat easily, she says, "All I was trying to say was nobody can make or break anybody's career here. I am still here, am I not?" and then ponders for a moment and says, "But I understand my losses in the bargain, and I am going to make up for them. When you asked me about change in my attitude, you also have to give some credit to the fact that I have grown over the years, I am learning new things each day. And I have discovered a beautiful life beyond films, which may not have been the case some years ago." she obviously hints at the stable love life with Shahid Kapoor, but refuses to divulge into details of the current status quo. "We don't get as much time together as we'd like to given our shooting schedules," she says adding, "But we do make time to spend some quality moments together. I am in a happy place like I said."

One would think it's easy to burst her bubble by throwing a barb about her gaining attention lately through only item numbers, be it the one in Don or the It's Rocking chart topper. And that's obviously pushing the wrong button as Bebo can still give you a taste of her famous temper, only it's masked well this time. "From what I understand of item numbers, I think they are raunchy songs added in some cases to gain masses' attention and in some to titillate them. Both my songs have been chart toppers like you said yourself, and they have been choreographed aesthetically. There's nothing "item numberish" about them, but if you want to club them into that feel free to do so," she says agitatedly.

Obviously spitfire or not, she still doesn't want to be clubbed with the likes of "Bipashas and Laras of the world" — her words of the past not ours!