Nickname : Kat
Height : 5' 8½" (1.74 m)
Katrina Kaif Mini Biography
Born on July 16, 1984 Katrina Kaif is one of eight siblings, all girls, from a mother who is a Caucasian of British Nationality, and a father who was formerly from Kashmir, India, but who has since acquired British citizenship.
Katrina grew up in Hawaii, but was brought up in London, UK. She started modeling accidentally when she was in Hawaii at the tender age of 14, when she was approached for a jewelery campaign. Thereafter she continued modeling in London
On screen appearances
Continuing to model was the reason she got her break in a Bollywood movie "Boom" offered by none other than film-maker Kaizad Gustad.
She was flooded with modeling assignments the minute she set her foot on Indian soil, especially with her innocent expressive face, hour-glass figure, and drop-dead gorgeous looks.
Professionally she started off as a model with photographer Atul Kasbekar, and upon being accepted, she received offers from LG, Cola, Fevicol, Lakme, & Veet. It was the Lakme commercial that got her noticed. She retained Matrix as her Manager to accept work on her behalf and at the price she deserved.
Moving to different culture and country was not much of a culture shock for her, as she states that no matter where you come from, the bottom line is that everyone wants to be loved, respected, and cared for.
Unlike other artistes from foreign lands, Katrina did not experience any difficulties in getting a visa nor of getting it extended in India.
Although linguistically challenged, Katrina puts on a bold face and states that other Bollywood artistes like Sridevi, who did not know Hindi, did get offers from Bollywood film-makers, and she is no different. She is taking Hindi and dancing lessons to fit in with the Bollywood culture. She likes to display a picture of her learning Kathak dancing where she used to dance 7 hours a day non-stop.
Despite of her soft gorgeous looks, she is not easily intimidated, but admits that she is very emotional, almost an incurable romantic, wears comfortable non-revealing clothes when at home, hates to do her hair, and above all dislikes make-up. Admitting to being lonely in the beginning, but now has several nice friends who she can hang out with.
Although her first movie "Boom" was panned by the critics and shunned by the audiences, two other Telegu movies "Malliswari" and "Pidugu" did get her noticed. She grossed Rs.70 lakhs for Malliswari - making her top the list of the highest paid actresses during a South Indian movie debut.
Not done with South Indian movies, she has been signed in a Tamil movie "Bheema" opposite National Award Winner Vikram.
She has received decent reviews for her part in "Maine Pyar Kyon Kiya", as well as a brief appearance in "Sarrkar".
Katrina has now made Bombay her base, and doesn't mind singing and dancing around trees while she's at it, and is determined to make it big in Bollywood. IMDb Mini Biography By: rAjOo (gunwanti@hotmail.com)
Trivia
Is half British and half Indian.
Indian supermodel
Has 8 sisters.
Was born in Hong Kong and then moved to Hawaii till she was about 14, then she moved to London. Presently, she lives in Mumbai.
Unlike other artistes from foreign lands, Katrina did not experience any difficulties in getting a visa nor of getting it extended in India.
She was discovered at age 14 as a model for a jewelry campaign.
When moving to India, she worked for photographer Atul Kasbekar and did commercials for Fevicol, Lakme and Veet among others.
She is very particular about her clothes which she wears a bold outfit on screen or for ads, but she feels more comfortable in not-so-revealing clothes in personal life. And the one thing she hates is make up.
She refuses to speak about her personal life in the media.
Besides walking the ramp for several top designers and being on magazine covers, Katrina has also been the stunning face of Estelle jewelery, Lakme, Pantene, Veet, Kodak cameras, L'Oreal, Samsung, LG etc.
She doesn't do ramp shows anymore.
She was chosen as the face of the year for the Lakme India Fashion Week (2005).
Her favorite Indian designers are Rina Dhaka, Tarun Tahiliani, Rocky S.
Her favorite international designers are Armani, Versace, Miu Miu.
Personal Quotes
"It's not my style to either wear minimum clothes, to strip or to even be comfortable with a sex-symbol label. I just want to do good work instead of sporting such meaningless tags. Sex sells, but to a small extent, not always. And this is what filmmakers have to accept. The exposure has to be relevant to the film and its characters and not forced for the sake of titillation. On the contrary, some of the greatest Indian films have been devoid of all these sexual trappings. I know my comfort zone in today's Indian culture and society."
Her thoughts on Bollywood accepting her, being an outsider British girl, into Indian cinema: "I have no complaints. I think I'm especially lucky. As you said, I've come from outside and I'm not even anywhere closely connected. But I have absolutely no problem here. People have been more than welcoming, even before I was ready. There was a time when I felt that I need to take time to understand more about the industry, the workings of it. I was doing my modeling, which I really wanted to do at the time. So that's why even my entry into films was later than people expected." (Stardust magazine, July 2006)
"I've been very blessed, I think, or what do you call it... mmm... lucky to get at this stage what I have. It's not like I've come from acting school and done work at an academy or something. I feel I've been given a very huge chance and opportunity." (Stardust magazine, July 2006)
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
Katrina 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.
