Her highest-grossing releases include the comedy-dramas 3 Idiots (2009) and Bajrangi Bhaijaan (2015), the action films Bodyguard (2011) and Singham Returns (2014), and the comedies Golmaal 3 (2010) and Good Newwz (2019).

[8][9] Describing herself as a naughty, spoilt child, Kapoor's exposure to films from a young age kindled her interest in acting;[5] she was particularly inspired by the work of actresses Nargis and Meena Kumari.

[10][17] Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama noted "the ease with which she emotes the most difficult of scenes",[18] and India Today reported that she belonged to a new breed of Hindi film actors that breaks away from character stereotypes.

All six films in which she starred—Mujhse Dosti Karoge!, Jeena Sirf Merre Liye, Talaash: The Hunt Begins..., Khushi, Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon, and the four-hour war epic LOC Kargil—were critically and commercially unsuccessful.

[36] By 2004, Kapoor, who had confessed to having entered the film industry strictly for financial reasons,[37] was eager on broadening her range as an actor and thus decided to accept more challenging roles in addition to the archetypical glamorous lead.

She relented when Mishra approached her for the second time, and in preparation for the role, visited several of Mumbai's red-light districts at night to study the mannerisms of sex workers and the way they dressed.

[38][41] Kapoor next co-starred in Mani Ratnam's Yuva, a composite film about three youngsters from different strata of society whose lives intersect by a car accident; she featured as Vivek Oberoi's romantic interest.

[42] Film critic Subhash K. Jha concurred that her role was insubstantial, but further stated that Kapoor uses her "character traits to her ... advantage to create a girl who is at once enigmatic and all-there".

[20] The filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj saw Kapoor in Yuva, and was sufficiently impressed to cast her in his next project, Omkara, an adaptation of William Shakespeare's tragedy Othello set against the backdrop of the political system in Uttar Pradesh.

Starring Kapoor as a woman confined to house arrest after discovering that her husband is a terrorist, she found the film to be an emotionally draining experience due to how difficult it was to disconnect from her character.

[72] Kapoor's second Filmfare nomination that year came for Rajkumar Hirani's 3 Idiots, based on the novel Five Point Someone by Chetan Bhagat, co-starring Aamir Khan, R. Madhavan and Sharman Joshi.

[75] Deccan Herald opined that Kapoor "brings a dollop of sunshine and feminine grace to an otherwise masculine tale", taking note of her spontaneity while playing her character.

[102] The film is set against the backdrop of Mumbai's red-light districts and follows the travails of a police officer (Aamir Khan) who is assigned the duty of solving a mysterious car accident.

[103] With global revenues of ₹1.74 billion (US$20 million),[104] the film emerged as a box office hit, and earned Kapoor Khan Best Actress nominations at the Screen, Stardust and Zee Cine award ceremonies.

[81] In 2013, Kapoor Khan collaborated with Ajay Devgn for the fourth time in Prakash Jha's Satyagraha, a socio-political drama loosely inspired by social activist Anna Hazare's fight against corruption in 2011.

[105] Following an appearance in the poorly received romantic comedy Gori Tere Pyaar Mein (2013),[20] Kapoor Khan decreased her workload for the next two years to focus on her marriage and family.

Kapoor Khan was initially reluctant to do the film due to the length of her role, but agreed after reading the completed script and partially waived her fees to star in it.

[125] Initially approached for the project in 2016, the makers rewrote Kapoor Khan's role to accommodate her pregnancy, but the lack of maternity insurance in India led filming to begin after she gave birth.

[126][127] Anna M. M. Vetticad praised the film for portraying women with "agency, flaws, humanity and, above all, a sense of humour", and took note of Kapoor Khan's restrained performance.

[134] Nandini Ramnath of Scroll.in commended her "ability to glitter in a handful of moments", but Vinayak Chakravorty for Outlook thought the portions involving Kapoor Khan were inessential to the story.

[138] Amidst a significant campaign by Hindu nationalists to boycott the film due to Aamir Khan's political affiliations, Laal Singh Chaddha failed to recoup its estimated production budget of ₹1.5 billion (US$17 million).

[149] Hansal Mehta's The Buckingham Murders starred her as a detective in a small town in Buckinghamshire, for which she modelled her character on Kate Winslet's role in Mare of Easttown.

During her five-year association with the retail chain Globus, Kapoor became the first Indian actress to launch her own line of clothing for women; she described the collaboration as being "special" and "reflective of my personal sense of style".

[167] Co-written alongside Rochelle Pinto, it became the first book to be launched under the Shobhaa De imprint of Penguin Books—a set of series that included celebrity memoirs, guides and biographies.

[174] Two years later, Kapoor Khan launched Channel V's anti-rape mobile app 'VithU'; she stated that with an increasing amount of violence against women in India, "[i]t [was] important for actors to stand up for issues because they can reach out to a lot of people.

"[177] During the first year, Kapoor Khan visited schools in the states of Rajasthan and Maharashtra where she interacted with students and participated in fundraising events hosted by the Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya organisation in the Jalna district.

[176] Along with UNICEF India's Goodwill Ambassador (Sharmila Tagore), Kapoor Khan hosted a charity dinner to help raise awareness for the development of underprivileged kids,[178] and launched the 'Child-Friendly School and Systems' (CFSS) package.

[207] Kapoor's private life has been the subject of media attention in India, with frequent press coverage of her weight and of her relationship with actor Saif Ali Khan.

[11][216] In a 2009 poll conducted by Daily News and Analysis, Kapoor was voted one of India's most popular icons;[217] with her partner Saif Ali Khan, she was listed amongst the top celebrity endorsers for brands and products worldwide.

"[206] Her portrayal of a series of superficial characters at the start of her career were criticised; film historian Gyan Prakash explained that these roles "tended to infantilise her, packaging her as daddy's little girl, all bubble and no fizz".