Believe it or not, Karisma Kapoor has turned into a bibliophile and her mama has had a role to play in Lolo`s new passion. She devours any and every book she can lay her hands on since, in her own words, she wants to enrich herself with knowledge.

"Her latest obsession, besides Suneel Darshan`s Mere Jeevan Saathi in which she is playing "a character never before attempted on the Hindi screen", is a book called A Short History of the World. Apart from this, she is also "heavily into spirituality and Reiki." The elder daughter of Babita has also earned social airs that would send the Bina Ramanis and Maureen Wadias scurrying for cover. What a transformation, Lolo. From an ugly duckling to a stunner, a social dud to a well bred and mannerly socialite and last but not the least, from a non-performer to a queen of emotions - you sure have come a long way.

A regular visitor to the Kapoor household insists that the reason for such a dramatic change has been Mrs. Jaya Bachchan, who made it clear that the Bachchans respect human values and the Fine Arts more than anything else and their house was devoid of any typical filmi trappings. "She (Jaya) seemed too concerned about Abhishek dancing to her (Lolo`s) tune," he added. The otherwise headstrong Karisma has taken things in her stride.