Back in 2005, an episode of Koffee with Karan featured Bipasha Basu openly acknowledging her feud with Kareena Kapoor during the making of her debut film, Ajnabee. Now, years later, actor Amita Nangia, who worked with both actresses in Ajnabee, has revealed the reason behind the tension between the two leading ladies. Apart from confirming their fight, she disclosed that the dispute stemmed from a disagreement over costumes.
Speaking to Siddharth Kannan about Kareena’s and Bipasha’s feud, she said, “I think it was something related to their costumes. They both wanted the same designer.” When asked if the ongoing feud affected other cast members, she responded, “What could we say? We would hear about it on set and react to it. It was their debut.” While Bipasha made her debut with Ajnabee, it was the fourth film of Kareena’s career.
During the interaction, Amita also described Kareena as reserved yet friendly. However, she mentioned that Bipasha was not particularly approachable and was solely focused on herself. She noted, “I couldn’t relate to Kareena because she was very reserved, and her mother was always with her. We couldn’t bond with her. But we were friendly—we would sit together and talk.” She added, “Bipasha was very new and was completely focused on herself. She wasn’t very friendly.”
In 2005, Bipasha spoke about her equation with Kareena during the same Koffee episode. She shared that while they were on talking terms during the first shooting schedule of Ajnabee, things changed by the second schedule when she realized Kareena didn’t like her. Bipasha stated, “It was only in the second schedule that I realised that she does not like me. She stopped talking to me. It doesn’t make my life difficult, because when you know that somebody is very clear with their thoughts, that I don’t like you and I’m not going to talk to you, it’s actually better for me. Because I hate hypocrites.”
She also elaborated, “I would rather have a person who’s very straight in front of me, saying, ‘Listen, something’s not right with us, we’ll not talk.’ But we worked professionally absolutely okay; when we had scenes together, there was no tantrum, there were no problems as such.” Ajnabee also starred Akshay Kumar and Bobby Deol in lead roles. Following the film, Kareena and Bipasha were both cast in Vishal Bhardwaj’s Omkara, but they didn’t share any scenes together in the movie.
This feud over costumes not only highlights the competitive nature of the film industry but also reveals the personal challenges faced by actresses like Kareena Kapoor and Bipasha Basu during their early careers. Such conflicts can shape relationships and create lasting impressions, influencing their future collaborations.
