While training at the institute, Kapoor was cast as the female lead in Rakesh Roshan’s Kaho Naa… Pyaar Hai (2000) opposite his son, Hrithik Roshan.[9] Several days into the filming, however, she abandoned the project; Kapoor later explained that she had benefited by not doing the film since more prominence was given to the director’s son.[9] She debuted later that year alongside Abhishek Bachchan in J. P. Dutta’s war drama Refugee. Set during the Indo-Pakistani war of 1971, the film centers on a man who illegally transports civilians back and forth across the border. Kapoor portrayed Naaz, a Bangladeshi girl who falls in love with Bachchan’s character while illegally migrating to Pakistan with her family. Her performance was acclaimed by critics; Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama described her as “a natural performer” and noted “the ease with which she emotes the most difficult of scenes”,[15] while India Today reported that Kapoor belonged to a new breed of Hindi film actors that breaks away from character stereotypes.[16] On the experience of acting in her first film, Kapoor described it as “tough … [but] also a great learning experience”.[9] Refugee was a moderate box-office success in India[17] and Kapoor’s performance earned her the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut
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