Karisma Kapoor didn't have too many reasons to celebrate her birthday last month.

She has a little daughter from her broken marriage with Delhi-based industrialist Sanjay Kapur.

Karisma dreamt of a marriage and domesticated life for keeps. Little did she realize she would be back with her mother and sister in Mumbai in no time at all...with the baby to show for her tempestuous tryst with domesticity.

The dream house that she planned to construct with her husband on the outskirts of Delhi is now a hazy memory. His conduct reportedly drove her up the wall.

She gave up her career at what she thought was the right time. Right after her marriage Karisma had glowed gloriously. "This was the right time for me to marry. I feel I was lucky with my career. I did many heroine-oriented films and many commercial successes. Marriage came at the right time. I'm extremely happy and at peace with myself."

It's a household of four women out there, battling male cynicism. "That family drives the men away," an actress said cruelly.

Or do men get intimidated by the formidable personality of the Kapoor women?

Karisma's story is more exciting than any film she has ever done... even her next release "Mere Jeevan Saathi" where plays a negative character (Karisma prefers to call it grey).

She's cast as an obsessive woman who cannot take a 'no' from the man she loves. According to Akshay Kumar, her co-star in "Deedar" and an ardent Karisma-Kareena supporter, "Mere Jeevan Saathi" features Karisma in the best role of her life.

Karisma also has a long-delayed project "Zamaanat" opposite Arsha Warsi on hold for almost a decade.

It isn't a promising prospect. What Karisma needs to do is to re-invent herself, write out a whole new idiom of pop-stardom for herself.

God knows, she has the wherewithal to give the teenyboppers a run for their money. Unfortunately not too many directors would be willing to frame projects specially for Karisma.

So where does Karisma go from here? Will the audience accept Karisma Kapoor as anything but a teenybopper icon? Starting at 17 she has constantly played the pubescent pinup idol even in her best films like Yash Chopra's "Dil To Pagal Hai" and Dharmesh Darshan's "Raja Hindustani".

Past 30, can Karisma re-invent herself as a woman of substance when she has formidable company like Madhuri Dixit and Tabu in her age-group?

Karisma did play a woman of substance in the TV series "Karishma: The Miracle Of Destiny". It didn't really create the ripple effect as it was expected to.

But the channel Sahara paid Karisma a hefty amount, reportedly close to Rs.250 million to be on television. That should come in handy now when her baby needs all the nurturing she can get.

It's unlikely that Karisma would want to return to her career in the near future. Her baby is the prime focus of her existence right now.

There's talk of her husband's family putting up a fierce legal battle to get the baby back. There is also a rumour that Karisma's husband is keen to have her back.

Neither of these will happen. Karisma wouldn't let them.

Haven't you seen her lioness' act in Shyam Benegal's "Zubeida"? The film got Karisma enough notice to make her join the ranks of actresses to watch.

Perhaps she should make a comeback after a long maternity leave with a tailor made role in a film produced by her father. The once-illustrious RK Films needs to get back on its feet. And Karisma may be the one to revive the glory of her home banner, which never did anything for her career.