Kareena Kapoor Khan has never shied away from speaking candidly about her unconventional family dynamic. In a recent conversation with Barkha Dutt on Mojo Story, the actor opened up about how her mother, Babita Kapoor, has been the driving force behind her and Karisma Kapoor’s journey, both personally and professionally, and how her parents’ decision to reunite in their later years has been nothing short of extraordinary for the Kapoor sisters.

Kareena Kapoor on Randhir Kapoor and Babita reuniting

Speaking about her parents' unique relationship, Kareena said, “Everyone’s parents are the best parents in the world. Yes. And my parents are the best parents in the world.” She explained that after spending many years apart, Randhir and Babita found their way back to each other, a decision made entirely on their own terms. “They’ve decided that they want to just spend their old age holding hands together because that’s where their journey started and that’s where exactly they are together,” she said.

For Kareena and Karisma, watching this full-circle moment has been emotional. “That is something that has come a full circle for Karisma and me which is absolutely… it’s like a divine kind of intervention which has happened. Individually I think both of them have been wonderful because I mean my father has always supported whatever I wanted to do in my life,” she added.

Kareena on her mother raising them as a single parent

Kareena also highlighted her mother’s strength in raising two daughters as a single parent while continuing to preserve the family’s film legacy. “When Karisma joined films, she was the only Kapoor girl who technically started the journey in movies. It was her mother Babita who played the role of a primary parent and did her best of whatever she could.”

Now, as a parent herself, Kareena admitted she often finds herself reflecting on the choices her parents made. “Now that I’m a parent intentionally or unintentionally, we think ‘Are we hurting our child?’ ‘Are we like nobody really wants to do that?’ But they (Babita and Randhir) obviously in a way think that they’re giving their best shot.”

Kareena on carrying Kapoor legacy

Speaking of the Kapoor legacy, Kareena noted, “I think we’ve carried on the Kapoor legacy. It was only me and Karishma before Ranbir came in. So the two girls, actually like my mother says they’re not tigresses, they are tigers because they did take the legacy forward.”

She also acknowledged how important it was that her father eventually supported Babita’s decisions regarding their daughters. “In a marriage, a man does realise that a woman, the mother, is the primary caregiver, and if he does support the mother in a positive way you can raise a couple of beautiful children. It does happen but the men have to know what all the mother does and they have to give them the credit they have to support them.”

About Randhir Kapoor and Babita

Randhir Kapoor and Babita married in 1971 but began living separately in 1988, although they never legally divorced. In an earlier interview with Hindustan Times, Randhir candidly reflected on their separation: “She found that I was a terrible man who drank a lot and came home late, which was something she didn’t like. And I didn’t want to live the way she wanted, and she couldn’t accept me as I was, though it was a love marriage. So it’s okay. We had two lovely children to look after. She brought them up in the best way and they have excelled in their career. What else could I have asked for as a father?”