Celebrating the Quintessential Bubbly Girl of B-Town:
Besides the fashionista that Sonam Kapoor is popularly known as in B-Town, her identity as an actor lies largely in the series of bubbly, fun-loving, and happy-go-lucky characters that she has performed quite well since the onset of her career. Needless to say, we remember them precisely by their chirpy and airy disposition that feels like a breath of fresh air into the lives of other characters as well as the hearts of people. Monotonous as it might seem to many people, the quintessential bubbly girl of B-Town has made it a chosen style and delves into deeper issues and character psychologies through the path of this simplistic, happy, and chirpy fervour.
As Sonam Kapoor steps on 38 this June 9, it is time to relook at some of her most free-spirited, fun-loving, enthusiastic, and bubbly characters that she has made a place with in our hearts. So…let’s begin!
Sakina:
Sakina is a gentle, shy, poised, and composed girl played by the debutant Sonam Kapoor in her first film, Saawariya (2007) where she was launched by Sanjay Leela Bhansali along with Ranbir Kapoor. Sakina is simply angelic with tinsel-like and yet sorrowful eyes perhaps reflecting longing. We get to realise in due course of the film that she has long been waiting for her lover, Imaan. Her charming presence and smile makes Raj (Ranbir Kapoor) fall in love with her completely and together they spend some of the most memorable moments. However, sadly, their love never gets a chance to consummate because Sakina finally gets to meet Imaan and chooses to be with him.
Simran Pahuja:
Simran from Puneet Malhotra’s I Hate Luv Storys (2010) was a total filmy girl who is a Bollywood fanatic and also lives a dreamy life of being an Art Director. She is super fun, jazzy, and takes life lightly because she feels she is all set with her dream job and a “Mr. Perfect” fiancé until she meets Jay. Jay arrives into the scene as an Assistant Director and slowly but steadily sweeps her off her feet in love. Opposites attract, as they say, and so does Simran run head-over-heels to propose to Jay who happened to be of a polar opposite character as Simran. But, what’s the life of such a filmy girl as Simran if it doesn’t have a happy ending? Well, Jay soon realises Simran’s importance and wants to gain her back and tada! Simran does manage a happy ending to her film, but of course, after a bit of masala and drama!
Aisha Kapoor:
Aisha Kapoor is the young, rich, and upper-class titular character of Rajshree Ojha’s Aisha (2010) who takes pride in her match-making skills. As it is very evident by Sonam Kapoor’s quintessential choice of characters, their personalities do not seem to be taking life too seriously. As much as this attitude seems fun and beneficial to live life king size, it could also backfire sometimes as it happens in case of Aisha. She tries her level best, in her fun and amusing feat to match-make her friend, Shefali with Randhir, a business tycoon only to find out that Randhir has feelings for her. Meanwhile, as Shefali is proposed to by her childhood sweetheart, Aisha dismisses it and treats her like a project/business asking her to continue with Randhir. A huge fiasco and confusion follows on who wants to be with whom but it all settles down gradually, as Aisha decides to calm down and take matters seriously and listen to her heart! After all, it does take a chirpy girl to be serious sometimes!
Mili Chakravarty:
Mrinalini or “Mili ‘’ Chakravarty is a simple, funny, charming, and amazing physiotherapist in Shashanka Ghosh’s Khoobsurat (2014) who worked for the Kolkata Knight Riders. That’s right! As dreamy and fun as it sounds, it gets even more fun as Mili gets appointed by a royal family to treat a paralyzed King Shekhar Singh Rathore. The commonplace yet jovial Mili finds it extremely difficult to cope with the prudish seriousness of the royal family and yet even in the midst of all of this manages to fall for the royal Prince who happens to already be engaged. Pretty expected, isn’t it! How could a girl as whimsical as this ever make sensible decisions? But well, we do get to see her gem-like heart beyond those decisions as a few members of the royal family bear testament to her contribution in bringing about a breath of joy in their lives. Then what? The Prince comes to terms with his feelings for her and their fairytale consummates!
Neerja Bhanot:
Neerja is one such legendary character of Sonam Kapoor that we cannot miss out on. It is the highlight of her career bagging her a big-time National Award nomination. Sonam Kapoor has made a dent into establishing herself as the lead character with all her exceptional abilities and will to serve the cause of people through her jovial, sweet, and chirpy nature that people are sure to fall in love with. Despite the film being of a serious and a sensitive demeanour, what etches in the memory of the audience is Neerja’s vibrant smiling face and her happy-go-lucky attitude of living life to the fullest with the line, “Babumoshai, Zindagi Badi Honi Chahiye, Lambi Nahi!”
Despite the claims that Sonam Kapoor hasn’t really stepped out of her comfort-zone to the fullest, what could be inferred out of her journey is that she has mastered the art of creating a lasting impression through her vibrant, jolly, bubbly, and passionate smile and directors across Bollywood have mostly made use of that trait to make their stories interesting. As much as we love the wonderful and vibrant spirit that the actor brings to the table, we would also look forward to her breaking her own limits, shattering the conventional boxes that people have mostly put her into, and finally stepping out of her comfort-zone.
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