Standing tall at 5’8”, a lovely peaches n cream complexion, and an hour-glass figure, the beautiful and elegant Katrina Kaif stands apart and is not one to go unnoticed. Not surprisingly the modeling world rolled down the red carpet for her, movie offers are pouring in, and she is linked with one of the hottest and most controversial Khans of Bollywood.
Roots
Katrina Kaif, a name now familiar to Indian movie-goers, was born on 16 July 1984 in Hong Kong. Her parents are both British citizens, while her father is a Kashmiri who later acquired British citizenship. She lived in Hawaii before moving to UK and is now setting up a home and career in India.
Katrina has been Salman Khan’s long term girlfriend. Despite several speculations about the couple’s break-up, all seems well.
On the Runway
Kaif’s first taste of modeling happened in Hawaii when she was 14 and was part of a jewelry campaign. Thereafter, she continued modeling in London. In India, there was no dearth of offers and she appeared in ads for Veet, Lakme, LG, Samsung to name a few. She was also the face of Lakme India Fashion Week 2005. She took the number one spot in FHM India's 100 Sexiest Women in the World poll and also won the Best Female Style Icon at the IIFA Awards.
Katrina was chosen to represent Barbie in India.
On to the Big Screen
Kaif, while in London, was spotted by Kaizad Gustad and was cast in his 2003 release Boom, which sank without a trace. Movie offers initially trickled in owing largely to her unfamiliarity with Indian languages. The very next year, in 2004, she played the part of Princess Malliswari in the Telugu movie Malliswari. She had another Telugu film, Allari Pidugu in 2005, along with two Hindi movies, Ram Gopal Verma’s Sarkar and as one of Salman Khan’s love interests in David Dhawan’s Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya. Both movies did well at the box office. She won the Stardust Breakthrough Performance Award for Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya. She co-starred with Akshay Kumar in Humko Deewana Kar Gaya, in 2006. Besides this she was a part of a Malayalam movie Balram Vs Taradas.
Five releases marked 2007. Her movie Namaste London with Akshay Kumar, was one of the year’s top hits, for which she did her own dubbing. The other three movies were Apne with the Deols, David Dhawan’s Partner with Salman Khan and Govinda and Welcome, all of which performed well at the box office. She also put in a special appearance in Nanhe Jaisalmer.
In 2008, we caught her in two blockbusters-the racy Race and Singh Is Kinng. She walked away with the British-Indian Actor Award at the Zee Cine Awards (2008). She played a small part in Hello, based on Chetan Bhagat’s One Night At A Call Center. Yuvvraj with Salman Khan didn’t do well.
She continued to amp up her skills in 2009. Her performances in both New York and Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani were praised. She had a small role in Blue. She was seen with Akshay Kumar in De Dana Dan. The movie saw a decent run in the theaters.
What’s Cooking?
Kaif over the past five years has shown that she is more than simply ravishing. The industry which was tentative about casting her, now considers her a lucky mascot and she is now the industry’s darling.
In 2010, she will be seen as a politician in Prakash Jha’s Rajneeti.
