Katrina Kaif
Katrina Kaif in 2012
Born	(1984-07-16) 16 July 1984 (age 27) Hong Kong
Residence	Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Nationality	British[1]
Ethnicity	British Indian
Occupation	Model, Actress
Years active	2003 – present

Katrina Kaif (born 16 July 1984^[2]) is a British Indian actress and former model who appears in Indian films, mainly in the Hindi-language film industry.^[3][4] She has also appeared in Telugu and Malayalam films. She was voted the sexiest Asian woman in the world by Eastern Eye in the years 2008, 2009 and 2010.^[5][6] Being a British citizen, she works in India on an employment visa.^[1]

Kaif made her acting debut with Kaizad Gustad's box office bomb Boom (2003). She tasted success in 2007 with Vipul Shah's Namastey London and followed with such films as Anees Bazmee's Welcome (2007), Abbas-Mustan's Race (2008) and Kabir Khan's New York (2009).^[7] She has since appeared in critically and commercially successful films like Prakash Jha's political thriller Rajneeti (2010) and Zoya Akhtar's dramedy Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (2011).^[8]

Early years and personal life[link]

Kaif was born in Hong Kong,^[9] to an Indian Kashmiri father,^[10][11][12] Mohammed Kaif, and an English mother, Susanna Turquotte,^[13] both of whom are British citizens. Her parents divorced when she was very young. Kaif once stated, "My dad, unfortunately, and not out of choice, has had no influence on our upbringing, on our religious or social or moral bearings."^[14] When she came to India, she changed her surname to Kaif, because it was Indian in origin.^[15] Furthermore, Ayesha Shroff has maintained that the actress' original name is Katrina Turquotte.^[15] Kaif has seven siblings; a brother and six sisters.^[16] From Hong Kong, she and her family moved to China, then to Japan. From there she went to France when she was 8, and thereafter lived for a few months at a time in Switzerland, Poland, Germany, Belgium, and other European countries.^[17] Then she moved with her family to Hawaii, and eventually to her mother's home country of England. Although it is often assumed that Kaif is from London, she lived there only for three years before finally moving to Mumbai.^[17]

Religious views[link]

Kaif is known to have secular religious views, and has been to various religious places in India,^[18] including Hindu, Sikh and Islamic places of worship.^[19] She has been seen worshipping at Siddhivinayak temple, Hindu temples in Haridwar, Shirdi, Amritsar's Golden temple and Ajmer Sharif dargah.^[19][20][21]

Career[link]

Modeling and early film career (1998–2004)[link]

Kaif began her modeling career at age fourteen; her first assignment was for a jewelry campaign. She continued modeling in London under a contract with the Models 1 Agency and did campaigns for houses such as La Senza and Arcadius, and even walked on the London Fashion Week.^[22]

Kaif's modeling work led to her discovery by London-based filmmaker Kaizad Gustad, who gave her a part in his film Boom (2003). The film, which starred Amitabh Bachchan and Gulshan Grover, failed to make an impact. She then moved to Mumbai and was offered a number of modeling assignments, but filmmakers were hesitant to cast Kaif due to her poor command of Hindi.^[23][24]

Breakthrough (2005–2006)[link]

In 2005, Kaif made a cameo in Ram Gopal Verma's drama Sarkar, as Abhishek Bachchan's girlfriend. The same year, she landed her first major role in David Dhawan's adaptation of Cactus Flower, Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya, where she was paired opposite Salman Khan. The film also featured Sushmita Sen, Arshad Warsi, Isha Koppikar and Sohail Khan in leading roles. Upon release, the film became a moderate success with Taran Adarsh, a prominent film critic, mentioning Kaif as a "complete revelation".^[25] The following year, she was paired opposite Akshay Kumar for the first time in Raj Kanwar's box-office flop Humko Deewana Kar Gaye. However, for her portrayal of Jia A. Yashvardhan, Adarsh wrote, "Taking giant strides as an actor, Katrina is, without doubt, the star of the show. It's her magnetic presence and dependable performance that you carry home once the show has ended." ^[26]

Success (2007– present)[link]

Katrina Kaif at Book launch of 'Raajneeti - The Film & Beyond, 2012

In 2007, Kaif appeared in four films, all of which were successful at the box office. Her first release was Vipul Shah's romantic-comedy Namastey London. Kaif portrayed the character of a British Indian girl named Jasmeet "Jazz" Malhotra, alongside Rishi Kapoor, Akshay Kumar and Clive Standen. Upon its release, the film became a major hit, with Nikhat Kazmi, of the The Times Of India praising the chemistry between the leading couple.^[27] She next played a supporting role in Anil Sharma's melodrama Apne. Featuring Dharmendra, Sunny Deol, Bobby Deol, Kirron Kher and Shilpa Shetty, the film was a box-office hit.^[28] Her next release was David Dhawan's unofficial remake of Hitch, Partner, where she starred alongside Salman Khan, Govinda, and Lara Dutta. Her final film of 2007, Welcome, directed by Anees Bazmee and co-starring Akshay Kumar, Paresh Rawal and Anil Kapoor, was declared a blockbuster in India,^[28] despite negative reviews from critics.

Her first release of 2008 was Abbas-Mustan's action-thriller Race; she played Saif Ali Khan's secretary, Sophia, who is secretly in love with his hostile stepbrother (played by Akshay Khanna). The film also featured Anil Kapoor, Bipasha Basu and Sameera Reddy in leading roles. Despite its success, Kazmi wrote, "Katrina is too pale as the blousy secretary who comes into her own only when she gets seductive with a Touch me, kiss me tenor. " ^[29]

Kaif was next seen in Anees Bazmee's action comedy Singh Is Kinng, portraying Akshay Kumar's love interest and Ranvir Shorey's fiancée. After its release, the film was declared a blockbuster, making it Kaif's sixth consecutive success at the box office. The movie also emerged as the third highest grossing film of 2008.^[30] Kaif's final release of the year, Subhash Ghai's Yuvvraaj, was a commercial failure,^[31] but its script made its way into the Library of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences for artistic merit, original screenplay with a substance, and the film as a whole.^[32][33]

In 2009, she featured in Kabir Khan's terrorism drama New York, with John Abraham and Neil Nitin Mukesh. It was a critical and commercial success in both India and overseas.^[34] Kaif's performance was highly praised: Taran Adarsh wrote, "Katrina gives you the biggest surprise. Known for her glamour roles, Katrina proves that she can deliver if the director and writer offer her a role of substance. She's outstanding. In fact, people will see a new, different Katrina this time."^[35] For her performance, Kaif received her first Filmfare nomination in the Best Actress category.^[7] She next had a cameo in the star-studded action-thriller Blue, popularly known as India's first underwater thriller, with Akshay Kumar and Zayed Khan.^[36] However, it was declared a flop. In November 2009, she appeared along with Ranbir Kapoor, in Rajkumar Santoshi's blockbuster comedy Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani, as Jennifer Pinto. Critics mostly praised her fresh chemistry with Kapoor rather than her performance as a whole.^[37] Her final release that year was Priyadarshan's star-studded De Dana Dan with Akshay Kumar, Suniel Shetty, Paresh Rawal and Neha Dhupia. Despite a good opening, the film failed to do well at the box office.^[38]

Kaif's first release of 2010 was Prakash Jha's political thriller Raajneeti, where she appeared opposite Ranbir Kapoor and Arjun Rampal. The film was a modern-day adaptation of The Mahabharata set against the political backdrop of Delhi. Nana Patekar, Manoj Bajpai and Shruti Seth also played starring roles. Upon release, the film performed extremely well at the box office, and earned Kaif favourable reviews for her portrayal of the dynamic Indu Sakseria.^[39] Her final release that year was Farah Khan's brainless comedy Tees Maar Khan with Akshay Kumar.^[40] The film received unanimous negative reviews from critics and was declared a flop. However, Kaif's item number Sheila Ki Jawani became a major chartbuster.^[41]

Kaif (second from left) promoting ZNMD in Chandigarh with the cast of the film

In 2011, she was seen alongside Hrithik Roshan, Farhan Akhtar, Abhay Deol and Kalki Koechlin in Zoya Akhtar's dramedy Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara,^[42] which emerged as a major critical and commercial success. Kaif was praised for her portrayal of a fun-loving diving instructor Laila. Taran Adarsh wrote, "Katrina is a revelation...the actress continues to surprise you with her performances in film after film."^[43] She next featured in Yash Raj Films' comedy Mere Brother Ki Dulhan opposite Imran Khan and Ali Zafar.^[44] The film was successful at the box office, and earned Kaif positive notice for her portrayal of vivacious punk-rock girl Dimple Dixit, with Rahul Gangwani saying "the film ultimately belongs to Katrina Kaif. She sparkles, sizzles and infuses energy into the film."^[45] Consequently, she received her second Filmfare nomination in the Best Actress category.

As of January 2012, Kaif is set to appear in three high-profile productions under the Yash Raj Films banner such as Kabir Khan's spy thriller Ek Tha Tiger opposite Salman Khan, Yash Chopra's Untitled Project alongside Shah Rukh Khan and Anushka Sharma and Vijay Krishna Acharya's adventure film Dhoom 3 alongside Aamir Khan, Abhishek Bachchan, Uday Chopra and Rimi Sen.

Voice dubbing[link]

It should be noted that due to her poor knowledge of Hindi (and other Indian languages), Kaif's voice was often dubbed by another actress. However, with the exception of De Dana Dan she has used her own voice for all of her films since New York. Earlier, she had dubbed for films like Namastey London and Singh Is Kinng.^[46]

Brand endorsements[link]

In the year 2002, Katrina Kaif was chosen as Coca-Cola's brand ambassador in Tamil Nadu along with Tamil leading actor Vijay. The Coca-Cola advertisement was popular in Tamil Nadu, with Katrina Kaif and Vijay dancing to a Tamil song called "Gullu Gullu".^[47] She has also worked for several skin products companies, particularly Veet, as well as several multi-national brands, such as Panasonic.^[48] Katrina is now the brand ambassador of the national airline of the United Arab Emirates – Etihad Airways.^[49]

Awards[link]

She has won 14 awards including Filmfare awards and also nominated for 13 awards till now.

Filmography[link]

See also[link]

Bollywood portal

• British Indian

References[link]