Kareena Kapoor essaying the role of a shy bride in Gitanjali jewels Parineeta collection advertisement.She looks lovely.

Bollywood diva Kareena Kapoor has been a coveted brand ambassador by many companies. Well now, we can add Gitanjali Group to her resume.

They announced that she will be the brand ambassador for Gitanjali Jewels at a press conference at the Taj Lands End Hotel, Mumbai.

Prior to this announcement, Bipasha Basu was chosen as the ambassador for the Gitanjali Jewels, while Katrina Kaif was the brand ambassador for Gitanjali Group’s Nakshatra brand. Looks like Bebo wanted her time to sparkle in these jewels too.

Kareena Kapoor commented by saying that “It’s a real honor to be chosen as a Brand Ambassador for Gitanjali Jewels because I love jewelry and am pleased to be associated with ‘Parineeta’, ‘Sagaaee’ and ‘ME Solitaire’, each of which have such myriad of designs with both traditional and personal touch. I personally endorse it as I can totally depend on it as it is backed by the Gitanjali Group which brings in itself the quality and the trust.”

After her popular Bebo Mein Bebo act in Kambakkht Ishq Kareena of Bollywood has been involved in international stage shows that were once a fixture every season.

She has won a lot more admirers across continents and has prompted foreign show promoters to plan a string of stage shows revolving around her. They have gotten in touch with local show organisers and have planned a three-stage world tour on US, Europe and South African shores according to our sources.

And they have even chalked out a deal for Bebo that they feel she can’t refuse. If things work out, this will be the first time an Indian actress is doing a series of shows around the world. The only glitch is that Kareena has no dates and is busy through the next year. But the event organisers are hopeful that she’d make some time for them to spread some cheer in the industry and her fans.

Everybody knows that Kareena Kapoor has nothing to do with Love Aaj Kal but she just can’t stop talking about it. In fact, she wants it to do even better than her latest release Kambakkht Ishq. But why? Because it is her boyfriend Saif Ali Khan’s first production venture.

Kareena said that she wants Love Aaj Kal to break all box office records. She added that it is not just a prestigious project but something which is very close to their hearts.

She is aware that the expectations on the film is huge but is sure that it will do well, as it has created positive vibes.

Saif also produces Love Aaj Kal besides playing the lead role along with Deepika Padukone. For this reason, Kareena is keeping her fingers crossed that it pulls Saif back to the top league. The film also features Rishi Kapoor and Rahul Khanna in pivotal roles with Neetu Singh in a guest appearance.

Her recent release “Kambakkht Ishq” has seen the best opening of 2009 so far. But Kareena Kapoor wants boyfriend Saif Ali Khan’s “Love Aaj Kal” to even surpass her film’s record and enjoy phenomenal success at the box office. “I really want ‘Love Aaj Kal’ to break all box-office records. Yes, ‘Kambakkht Ishq’ is my film but then so is ‘Love Aaj Kal’. For both Saif and me ‘Love Aaj Kal’ is a not just a prestigious project but also something which is very close to our hearts”, Kareena told sources. Releasing Friday, “Love Aaj Kal” is Saif’s first production venture. Tell her that expectations are huge from the movie as well as Saif and she nods in agreement.

“Yes, I’m aware about the huge expectations and I also know that ‘Love Aaj Kal’ has turned out to be a lovely film. The good part is that the film has generated all around positive vibes and everyone expects good things from the film,” she said. With Saif playing two characters – Jai Vardhan Singh and Veer Singh (the younger version of Rishi Kapoor) – “Love Aaj Kal” touches upon the universal essence of love. According to director Imtiaz Ali, “the process of relationship might be different in different eras, but the experience of being in love remains the same”.

Another factor that makes “Love Aaj Kal” a special film for Kareena is the fact that it has Imtiaz at the driving seat. “I have worked with Imtiaz in ‘Jab We Met’ and ever since then we all expect so much from him. He has great sensibilities of a storyteller and can’t set a foot wrong. I really hope and pray that ‘Love Aaj Kal’ manages to strike a chord with audiences in the same way as ‘Jab We Met’,” she said. Remembering her stint in “Jab We Met”, Kareena agrees that it was an extraordinary experience.

“To play a character like ‘Geet’ (her screen name in ‘Jab We Met’) doesn’t happen all the time; it just happens. When you begin working on a film, you of course know about the story and your character. However, no one knows how audiences would eventually react to it. ‘Geet’ did strike a chord with the audiences and became a household name,” she said. One expects something similar from “Love Aaj Kal” as well that also stars Deepika Padukone. Apart from them, Rishi Kapoor and Rahul Khanna will also be seen in pivotal roles with Neetu Singh in a guest appearance.

Joining the league of international stars like Victoria Beckham, Madonna and Jennifer Lopez, Bollywood actress Kareena Kapoor is all set to launch her own website. The site would inform netizens about the actress’ latest fashion trends. “Kareena’s official website is going to be on an absolutely tech savvy format. It’s going to be on the lines of the sites of international stars like Victoria Beckham, Madonna and Jennifer,” a source close to the actress revealed. The source added “Her website is going to be more fashion oriented. The site will have updates not only of Kareena’s fashion trends but also other trends that take place all over the globe”.

The actress has been known for her fashion presence even in the fashion fraternity and looks forward to sharing her trend sense with her fans through the site. “She has sound knowledge about the fashion industry and the website will give her a chance to share her fashion knowledge with her fans. There have been a number of occasions when Kareena has even actively participated in designing her own costumes for films,” said the source. Kareena is also the brand ambassador of a global fashion retail chain Globus.

Having been designated a style icon, Kareena Kapoor now intends to go on a long shopping binge in various fashion capitals and also cut her hair. “I have to…I’ve no choice. I’m looked at as a fashion statement. Very tiring, but flattering. Dress designer Aki Narula has set impossible standards of fashion for me through my films. Now I’ve no choice but to live up to those standards. I’ve raised the bar for fashion,” Kareena. “After ‘Kambakkht Ishq’, in ‘Qurbaan’ Aki has again made me look so special,” added the actress who gives the credit for her ‘Kambakkht…” look to Aki. “He went shopping for my clothes and accessories. This may be a film, but I’ve never worked harder. In terms of styling and body language even dance and drama, I really worked hard.

I wanted it to be a ‘phataka’ kind of role. I wanted the audience to come out breathless,” said Kareena, who may soon be off on a shopping expedition to fashion hubs such as Milan, Paris, London and New York. “It becomes tiring for everything I wear to be in the media glare. I constantly need to be well-dressed. It’s a price I’ve to pay, in more ways than one. I don’t have a choice but to have my wardrobe filled with choices. “Nowadays when I go abroad, I find myself spending more time in shops than holidaying. It’s a responsibility. And I do need to be chic all the time. But my being a fashion icon also depends on my attitude and mood of the moment,” said the actress. Asked if has she shifted loyalties from dress designer Manish Malhotra to Aki, she said: “No. I love Aki’s work and plan to use his clothes very often. But Manish and I go back a long way.

He dressed up my sister to stardom and then me. We’re not the kind of people who move on in our friendships. “I’m back with Manish Malhotra in ‘3 Idiots’ and the remake of ‘Stepmom’. I’ll be dressed up as a stylish young girl. I’m planning to cut my hair. I’m really proud to be called stylish. I like that,” said the actress. The selection of clothes and designer depends upon the roles, says Kareena. “In ‘Jab We Met’, I was simply dressed in salwar-kameez. In my forthcoming films ‘Qurbaan’ and ‘3 Idiots’, I’m minimalist in my clothes. “But ‘Kambakkht Ishq’ was about beautiful surfaces and shallow people. I had to dress immaculately.

The standards for a heroine’s look and styling had to be raised. In terms of clothes, hair and makeup we’ve done that in ‘Kambakkht Ishq’. The fact is, I wanted to look very different. I wanted to look larger than life,” she said. But the actress says she is equally comfortable playing a girl next door like she did in “Omkara”. “If I can carry off Kolhapuri chappals in ‘Omkara’, I’m equally at home in Jimmy Choos in ‘Kambakkht Ishq’. I’m equally proud of both kind of films. Madhuri (Dixit) did a ‘Mrityudand’ and a ‘Choli ke peeche’ (in ‘Khalnayak’) side by side. Look at the film actors like Madhuri, my sister Karisma, Saif Ali Khan and Akshay did in the 1990s. And look where they got! I guess I was lucky.”

It seems social networking sites have become the latest fad with Bollywood celebrities who love to keep in touch with their fans on round the clock basis.

Be it blogs or other social utilities, interaction of Bollywood actors with their fans has become quite common these days, all thank to the internet and plethora of social networking platforms.

With Bollywood stars like Amitabh Bachchan, Aamir Khan and Mallika Sherawat already making waves on internet, news has it that B-town lissome beauty Kareena Kapoor has been hooked to computers, courtesy Saif Ali Khan!

Speaking to a news daily, Kareena said, “It was Saif who introduced me to the computer. He does practically all his work on the internet. He coaxed me into understanding the basics.”

The actress maintained, “And then I got hooked, though not to social networking because I’m too private a person to share my day-to-day movements and activities even with my closest friends.”

For Kareena, she is simply amazed by the internet as, “I now realize it’s a whole large global community out there on the computer. I can’t blog about my life.

But I need to understand and connect with the internet community. I’ve been repeatedly told that I’ve the maximum number of fans and well-wishers on Facebook. I could never find the time to connect with them.”

The waiflike lass further added, “Imtiaz said the number of people on Facebook who put up my pictures and messages about me had to be seen to be believed. I’ll now be going on Facebook in a few days to interact with my friends there.”

Saif Ali Khan has already upset his ‘Love Aaj Kal’ co-star Deepika Padukone by constantly saying that he missed Kareena on the sets.

Now, he has taken ‘panga’ again with an actress, this time the sultry Bong beauty, Bipasha Basu, by ousting her out from ‘Race 2’ and roping his sweetheart Kareena Kapoor instead on the pretext of the demand of the script.

Saif has confirmed this news saying, “Abbas Mastaan understand the pulse of the plot. ‘Race’ was a fast-paced action-adventure caper. Not too many filmmakers in Bollywood would’ve done such a wonderful job of it.

“Yes, Kareena will be part of ‘Race 2?. We’re yet to flesh out the details. But ‘Race 2? has to be bigger and larger than ‘Race’. Otherwise no point in making it.”

Apparently, this sequel promises to have tons of action and special effects and Saif took special efforts in convincing producers to rope in Abbas-Mustan again as directors and Kareena instead of Bipasha for the second innings of Race.

While we would love to see stylish Kareena create magic with her beau Saif in ‘Race 2’, we sincerely feel that Saif is going to end up in a soup if he keeps miffing reigning Bollywood beauties in this manner!!

The lovely Kareena Kapoor has just received a letter in the mail written in blood by an obsessed fan. So far, he only expresses the desire to meet her, having fallen for the actress’ drop-dead gorgeous looks in Kambakkht Ishq.

But, reading between the lines, it appears the fan has been keeping tabs on Bollywood’s No 1 actress for a while.

Kareena, of course, is used to dealing with all kinds of fans, but the letter has made her more alert to strangers around her. She has declined to take any action against the letter-writer because, as a celebrity, she appreciates their feelings and is grateful to fans.

But she is also uncomfortable when people become fanatic and obsessive about her. Chhote Nawab Saif Ali Khan, who is known to be fiercely protective of his lady love, has not reacted as yet to the blood letter.