Katrina Kaif
Early Life
Katrina Kaif was born on July 16th, 1984 in the, then British owned territory of Hong Kong. She is one of eight, all girl, siblings born to an Indian Muslim father, Mohammad, from Hyderabad and a Hindu mother, Laxmi, who is of Indian and British descent. One of her younger sisters, Isabel, is also a promising actress but is yet to make her movie debut. Kaif spent much of her early childhood living in Honolulu, Hawaii until the family moved to London, England when she was in her early teens. At the age of fourteen she was approached by an agent who offered her a job modelling for a jewellery campaign. This led to a number of modelling assignments in London where she caught the eye of filmmaker Kaizad Gustad, who offered her a part in his film Boom. Kaif accepted the offer and moved to Mumbai where she landed a number of high profile modelling contracts, most notably for LG and Lakme, while pursuing a career in acting. Career Highlights Kaif appeared in her debut film, Boom, in 2003. The film highlighted the involvement of the fashion world with underworld crime and saw Kaif play the role of Rina, a fashion model. Although the movie performed poorly at the box office and was panned by the critics Kaif was seen as a potential star for the future and wowed her fans in the glamorous role. It was not until 2004 that Kaif landed her second major movie role in the Telugu language film Malliswari. The film was written by Trivikram Srinivas and directed by K. Vijaya Bhaskar and saw Kaif star in the title role opposite Venkatesh. The film was an instant hit at box-office but was the only film she appeared in during 2004 and after its release she returned to modelling. 2005 would prove to be Kaif’s breakthrough year. She first saw success in Sarkar, a dramatic thriller set in the Mumbai underworld, playing the role of Abhishek Bachchan's love interest. Kaif’s next release, Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya, saw her paired opposite Salman Khan. Kaif gave a moving performance as Sonia, a suicidal woman who attracts the attentions of a married doctor (Khan). The movie was a hit at the box office and earned her the Stardust Award for breakthrough female performance. Kaif also appeared in Jayant Paranjee’s Allari Pidugu as Swathi opposite Balakrishna.
2006 saw Kaif appear in two films. The first, released in April, was the romantic movie Humko Deewana Kar Gaye, opposite Akshay Kumar. Kaif played Jia, the daughter of a business tycoon who falls in love with Kumar’s character, a young automobile engineer, despite being engaged to another man. The movie was shot on location in Calgary, Canada and saw some success in the North American box offices. Her second film of the year saw her have a supporting role in the Malayalam Language film Balram Vs Taradas. However the movie performed poorly at the box office and was panned by the critics. In 2007 Kaif appeared opposite Akshay Kumar for the second time in the hit movie Namastey London. Kaif received praise for her portrayal of a British Indian girl who’s parents arrange a marriage to a Indian man despite her own wishes to marry a British man. The film went on to become popular amongst Indian film fans and to become one of the top movies of 2007. The film was also a huge hit overseas. It debuted at # 9 on the UK charts and within the top 20 in the U.S.A. 2007 Also saw Kaif star in David Dhawan’s Partner as Priya a woman who’s employee, played by Govinda, falls in love with. The movie was another box office hit grossing 62 crores in India and over $1 million in the U.S.A. Kaif also had smaller roles in the hit movies Apne and Welcome that year. 2008 saw Kaif play a negative role for the first time in her career in Abbas-Mustan's thriller Race. She played the part of Sophia, Saif Ali Khan's secretary who is secretly in love with his hostile step brother played by Akshay Khanna. The movie was a huge success, becoming the fifth biggest grossing Bollywood film of the year and achieving a worldwide total of $24,391,920. Her next film saw her star in Anees Bazmee's box office super hit Singh Is Kinng alongside Akshay Kumar again. Kaif was praised for her performance as Sonia, Kumar’s love interest in the movie. The film turned out to be such a great success that it was showcased at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival and went on to be one of the most successful movies of all time. Its opening weekend net gross was Rs. 29 crores smashing the previous Bollywood record of Rs. 22 crores set by Om Shanti Om the previous year. In North America, it grossed $1.1 million in the first weekend and approximately $1 million in the U.K. Singh is Kinng reportedly grossed over $35 million worldwide. Kaif's final release of the year was Subhash Ghai's Yuvvraaj, based on the classic Hollywood movie Rain Man. As of June 2009 Kaif has began filming three movies New York, Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani and Blue. All are due for release in mid-late 2009.
Katrina Kaif Filmography 2003 - Boom - Rina Kaif/Popdi Chinchpokli 2004 - Malliswari - Princess Malliswari 2005 - Sarkar - Pooja 2005 - Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya - Sonia 2005 - Allari Pidugu - Shwetha 2006 - Hum Ko Deewana Kar Gaye - Jia A. Yashvardhan 2006 - Balram vs. Taradas - Supriya 2007 - Namastey London - Jasmeet Malhotra 2007 - Apne - Nandini 2007 - Partner - Priya Jaisingh 2007 - Welcome - Sanjana Shetty 2008 - Race - Sophia 2008 - Singh Is Kinng - Sonia 2008 - Yuvvraaj - Anushka Banton 2009 - New York - Maya 2009 - Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani - Sonia/Lisa Singh Rathod 2009 - Blue - Lauren Katrina Kaif Trivia Katrina Kaif Links Babe Invasion | Bestzilla | Celebrity Link | Chickipedia | Famous Hookups | Famous Why | Free Ones | IMDB | Net Glimse | Perfect People | Star Pages | Utopian Vision |
