Kangana Ranaut ‘Worshipped’ Karisma Kapoor in The 90s, Dressed Up Like The ‘Fashionista’ As A Kid

Kangana Ranaut has revealed a nostalgic side of her childhood while expressing admiration for Karisma Kapoor, one of Bollywood’s most recognisable stars and the ultimate diva of the 1990s. The actor-turned-politician recently shared a rare throwback photograph from her childhood, showing off a fashion style that she says was inspired by Karisma. Ranaut’s love for Kapoor just shows how influential Karisma was and still is as a fashion girlie.

Kangana took to Instagram Stories to share an old photograph of herself as a child. In the picture, a young Kangana can be seen wearing black dungarees with a yellow T-shirt, while a sweatshirt is casually tied around her waist. The outfit immediately brought back memories of 1990s Bollywood fashion, particularly the style associated with Karisma Kapoor.

 accompanied the photograph with a sweet and playful note revealing just how much she admired the actor while growing up. “Who all worshipped original fashionista @therealkarismakapoor in the 90’s ha ha! I definitely did,” Kangana wrote. She also added Karisma’s song Le Gayi from Dil Toh Pagal Hai to the post. The song, featuring Karisma alongside Shah Rukh Khan and Madhuri Dixit, was one of the memorable tracks from the 1997 romantic drama.

Karisma Kapoor was one of the biggest female stars of the 1990s. Her popularity extended beyond her acting, with her hairstyles, costumes and overall fashion sense frequently becoming part of pop culture. Films such as Raja Hindustani, Dil To Pagal Hai, Coolie No. 1 and Hero No. 1 showed different sides of her on-screen persona. Her styling in many of these films reflected the fashion trends of the era and helped establish her as a youth icon. Her pics are still very popular as fashion inspiration and make it to many girls’ moodboards.

Interestingly, Karisma recently opened up about the women who shaped her own understanding of beauty and style. In an interview with The Times of India, she spoke about her grandmothers and described them as her beauty icons while growing up. “That was the beauty standard because they both had beautiful skin. They never did much. They believed in the old nuskhas,” Karisma said.

She also recalled a beauty ritual she associated with her Dadi. According to Karisma, her dadi would eat ghee and also apply it to her face. She said her grandmother would also wear a bright lip colour, adding that this influence stayed with her. Karisma’s nani, meanwhile, shaped her understanding of elegant dressing. “She would wear beautiful chiffon saris, just a pearl, and a light-coloured lipstick,” she recalled.

Now that fashion trends from the 1990s are finding their way back into contemporary pop culture, Karisma and her evergreen style is being appreciated much more.