Fans miss the old Kareena - the one who burst onto the scene with Chameli, and continued to stun with stellar performances in films like Omkara and Talaash.

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Could it be that she will return to the same gritty territory in her next, Abhishek Chaubey's Udta Punjab.

In an earlier statement, Kareena had said that she won't sign a film unless she likes its script.

Udta Punjab, which examines drug issues of the state's youth, sees Kareena in a deglamourised role of a doctor, according to PTI.

"It is very gritty, very real and the whole space is very dark. It is very exciting. I have done this kind of movie and getting back to that atmosphere is great. Udta's world is totally different," Kareena said. She stars alongside an ensemble cast that includes Shahid Kapoor, Alia Bhatt and Punjabi heartthrob Diljit Dosanjh.

Her other upcoming film, R Balki's Ki and Ka, also sees her in a deglammed role.

"My Ki and Ka character is very real," said the actress, "She is a girl of today, a working woman, who is married. She is very normal and she dresses very normal. Same goes with my role in Udta Punjab. The whole idea is to make the characters connect to people".

Here's hoping that Kareena's new films do justice to the performances she is capcble of.