Kareena kapoor

While training at the institute, Kapoor was cast as the lead in Rakesh Roshan's Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai (2000) opposite his son, Hrithik Roshan.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.

She debuted later that year alongside Abhishek Bachchan in J. P. Dutta's war drama Refugee. Set during the Indo-Pakistani war of 1971, Kapoor was introduced as Naaz, a Bangladeshi girl with whom Bachchan's character falls in love. Dutta cast her for the combination of youthfulness and innocence he found in her, and Kapoor considered their collaboration to be an important learning experience that helped her personally and professionally.

Writing for the entertainment portal Bollywood Hungama, critic Taran Adarsh described Kapoor as "a natural performer" and noted "the ease with which she emotes the most difficult of scenes.

and India Today reported that she belonged to a new breed of Hindi film actors that breaks away from character stereotypes.

Refugee was a moderate box-office success in India and Kapoor's performance earned her the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut.