Born into an old and influential film family of Punjabi origin in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, Kareena's name was inspired by the book, Anna Karenina.Kareena is the grand-daughter of Raj Kapoor, who acted in and directed many successful movies and is also the great grand-daughter of Prithviraj Kapoor. Kareena was born to actors Randhir Kapoor and Babita, who had divorced when she was still young.

Kapoor was the only actress that featured among the highest tax payers of 2006-07. Kareena was also ranked fourth on the list of Filmfare's "Top Actresses" list (2003-2005) and sixth later on (2006).In 2004, Kapoor was featured in the list of Rediff's "Bollywood's Most Beautiful Actresses."She also featured in the list of Rediff's "Bollywood's Hottest Heroines", Rediff's "Bollywood's Best Dressed Women" and Rediff's "Women of Many Faces."

In 2005, Kareena appeared on the first season of Karan Johar's talk show Koffee with Karan with Rani Mukerji. She later appeared on the second season of the show with her sister Karisma Kapoor and her boyfriend Shahid Kapoor in 2007.