New Delhi, Feb. 21 -- Kareena Kapoor Khan couldn't dance. The only thing her mother, the actress Babita with many a chartbuster under her belt, told her about making it in the movies was that "To be a number one star, you have to be a great dancer." She then said her daughter had two left feet-especially in comparison to her elder daughter, Karisma, an extraordinary dancer. Choreographer Saroj Khan agreed: "Yeh kaisi ladki hai jise haath pair chalaana nahin aata (What kind of a girl is this who can't move her hands and legs)?" Kareena, however, remained undeterred. She was, as the famous line in Jab We Met would attest many years later, her own favourite.

Kareena and I are both 44. I've been writing about film for over 20 years. Some of ...