Book review: 'The Style Diary Of A Bollywood Diva'

The Style Diary Of A Bollywood Diva
Kareena Kapoor, Rochelle Pinto
Penguin India
269 pages
Rs699

The Style Diary Of A Bollywood Diva begins with Kareena Kapoor reminiscing about her “regular middle-class life in South Mumbai” as a child.

The irony does not end there. Later, the actress says that according to her, style is not about designer labels or expensive jewellery. She promptly goes on to gush about diamonds and list Prada, Dolce and Gabbana, Ralph Lauren and Alexander McQueen among her favourite designers. Regular and middle-class indeed.

If you want to look like Kapoor, you’re the target audience for Style Diary Of A Bollywood Diva, but what you’ll get from it is another matter entirely. The book is divided into sections, which detail Kareena’s body metamorphosis, fitness regime, fashion choices and — since we’re talking Bollywood and all things she loves — her relationship with Saif Ali Khan.

In “Body Basics”, Kareena talks about her transformation from chubby chica to queen of surya namaskars. Too many pages are wasted on clichéd diet dos and don’ts and yoga asanas. Her anecdotes — like trying her grandmother’s makeup as a kid and posing in front of the mirror — are the only interesting bits in this part. Did you know she wanted to be a lawyer? Insert gasp here.

Kareena’s size zero phase has an entire chapter dedicated to it. While talking about the journey to get her curves back, she quotes her mother who couldn’t differentiate between Kapoor’s front and back and Saif’s comment that she looked like a 12-year-old boy when she was size zero.

In “Fashion Fabulous”, she decodes her looks in popular movies like Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham and Jab We Met. Several pages are devoted to each item of clothing like jeans, tops, shirts and dresses and what will suit which body type. According to Kapoor, brands like Zara and Mango qualify as “budget buys”. Because everyone can afford a pair of jeans that costs Rs7,000.

The fashion advice offered is disappointingly obvious — no skinny jeans if you’re curvy, no high neck tops if you’re chest heavy and no cropped tees if you don’t have washboard abs. Who’d have guessed!

Speaking of her beauty routine, Kapoor thanks her genes for blemish-free skin. There is some shameless brand plugging as she talks about her love for Clinique moisturiser and Emami cold cream in the same breath.

The chapter titled “Underneath your clothes” dishes out gyan on “bras, panties and life’s lessons”, which includes detailed descriptions of the variety of lingerie out there. Mundane hair, make-up and skincare tips follow.

The last and totally unnecessary section in the book is titled “Man power”. In it, Kapoor plays relationship expert and offers cringe-worthy grooming tips for men on subjects of feet hygiene, and nose and ear hair.

The Style Diary Of A Bollywood Diva attempts to demystify Kapoor’s style. While hardcore fans will like the book for the glimpse it offers into the actress’s life, fashion enthusiasts should clamour for a refund.