“SOMETIMES OVERFRIENDLINESS CAN ALSO LEAD TO LOSING THE CHARM WHICH IS THERE ON THE SETS BETWEEN TWO ACTORS.”

KATRINA KAIF tells JYOTHI VENKATESH

Today happens to be the 37^th birthday of the gorgeous Katrina Kaif. To wish her a happy birthday, I along with bollyy.com and Mayapuri are reproducing a rare and very honest interview taken eleven years ago when she met us for the promotion of her film Tees Maar Khan, of KATRINA KAIF by JYOTHI VENKATESH, who he knows right from the day she met him at a press conference in Mumbai for her debut film Boom.

Katrina Kaif

At the outset, Farha Khan, who is seated just besides Katrina and I, declares that Katrina Kaif is the hardest star she has ever worked with. Farha explains. “I mean Katrina is a very hard working girl on the sets.” In turn, Katrina too pats Farha on the back with her statement. “After working with Prakash Jha in Rajneeti with which I could project a dramatic appeal as an actress, I was very keen on doing Farha’s signature tune in a glamorous way. Farha has a particularly great touch as a director who knows the pulse of the audiences as she has proved earlier with her films like Main Hoon Na and Om Shanti Om. I signed on Tees Maar Khan only with the sole aim of working with Farha and I should confess that I am happy that Farha feels that I did not let her down at all, as an actress.”

Katrina asserts that she was thrilled to do the item number Sheela Ki Jawani. “There is nothing which is risqué or vulgar about the number Sheela Ki Jawani. It has been shot aesthetically by Farha who is also a great choreographer besides being a fabulous director. I should say that for the first time in my career, I really got to do something new in the film with the number Sheela Ki Jawaani. What I like about the number is that though it is sensuous it is not at all sleazy or shocking. The only brief that Farha gave me when she asked me to perform the dance number was that I should do it with open-ness without any inhibitions at all.  It is about ‘sporting’ a kind of attitude and hence the costume that Farha gave me to wear is not at all shocking though it is an item number. To prepare myself for the strenuous dance number, Farha gave me a lot of DVDs of the films of Madhuri Dixit to watch her dance steps.”

Katrina Kaif

Farha is happy with the way her song number Sheela Ki Jawani has turned out in Tees Maar Khan. “In terms of the presentation, we have gone Broadway in Sheela Ki Jawani, though my Munni badnaam huyi was more rustic. I am happy that I have done both the numbers as a choreographer. Katrina was very comfortable with the dance number because in the first place, as a choreographer I did not want to set out to do something for the sake of titillation. I did not shoot the number with an obscene camera angle, though I do concede that Sheela Ki Jawani is definitely a sensuous number ever seen in Hindi Cinema. Katrina’s character uses a voice which my kids use when they coax me to get chocolates for them”.

When I asked Katrina whether she also tried to shed her weight to get a size zero, like Kareena Kapoor to be fit enough for the strenuous rehearsals for the dance number, Katrina replied promptly, “I do not want to get into zero size. In any case, I feel that I will never be able to achieve a Size zero primarily because of my height unlike Kareena Kapoor. I made it a point to eat correctly. I set a target for myself and stopped eating junk food, though otherwise I like to gorge on the sets. In fact when Farha and Akshay used to bring home food from their house on the sets, I had to resist the temptation to lay my hands on the wonderful Punjabi dishes.”

katrina kaif

Katrina says that she plays the role of Aliya Khan in Tees Maar Khan. “My character graph was very clear. My reference was actually a cartoon character of a kitten. Aliya is innocent and sweet. I give the benefit of doubt to everyone I come across in my life in the film and trust every one by his or her face value. I like to have heated discussion and arguments with my directors to get an idea about my characterization every time I set out to perform a role. Every song in the film Tees Maar Khan has me in a different look. In fact, I was overjoyed when Akshay Kumar who is not generally very lavish with his praises on his co-actors told me that the way I have performed to the track of Sheela Ki Jawani was amazing. As an actress, I understood Farah’s reflexes and hence it was not very tough for me to get into the skin of my character in Tees Maar Khan, though I would say that as the title itself suggests, it is an out and out hero oriented film.”

Katrina recollects that it is almost five years since she had worked with Akshay Kumar for the first time in Humko Deewana Kar Gaye. Though Akshay does have this reputation of being a tough prankster who revels in pulling his co-actor’s legs on the sets quiet often, Katrina confesses that he does not play pranks on her , because they know each other quite well and there is a comfort zone between the two of them, strictly on a professional as well as personal level. Katrina adds, “I would also say that Akshay and I are not buddies or keep talking on the phone for hours together every day, because all said and done, I am of the opinion that sometimes over friendliness can also lead to you losing the charm which is there on the sets between two actors.”

When Farha tells me that though Katrina is a very sweet girl who is not the type to throw tantrums, she finds it quite strange that everyone tells Katrina that Akshay may have run out of pranks with her after working in quite a few films with her, Katrina agrees and states. “In the last five years, I should confess that I have spent as many as 500 days shooting with Akshay Kumar. I would say that, from my point of view, Akshay has a certain amount of confidence as well as implicit in me, as a co- actor. The best thing about Akshay is that he respects what I am doing.”

Katrina Kaif

Kat says that the camaraderie that she shares with Akshay is something which is very difficult to define. “In the first year when we knew each other, Akshay used to hug me first when he came on the sets for the shooting. In the second year, he used to just shake my hand and talk to me on the sets without hugging me. In the third year he used to just say hi to me and be immersed with his lines and in the fourth year he used to say hi to me from a distance. Now that we have known each other for the last five years, sometimes he does not even bother to wish me when he comes on the sets.  I sometimes think that he is just taking me for granted as a ghar ki murgi.’   

What I like the best about Katrina who I had actually met for the first time when she was introduced to me way back when she had actually landed in Mumbai for the press conference of the film Boom is the fact that she  is very brutally frank about herself and does not talk for effect , unlike some of the other actresses I know in Bollywood. “My association with Filmfare is just limited to dancing at their award functions and posing for their covers and not as far as winning awards is concerned”, she quipped when a scribe asked her what her involvement with the magazine Filmfare was at a press conference to launch the new look of the magazine recently.

 Katrina may be the most beautiful girl as far as the layman is concerned, but the girl herself isn’t vain at all. In fact, Katrina confesses that she is not at all comfortable with the tag of the sexy girl by the media. “Believe it or not, the fact is that I was not at all popular when I was in school or for that matter college when I was much younger. In fact, nowadays, I wake up every day thinking that I am not at all beautiful when I first see my face in the mirror. You should believe me because all said and done, unlike men, I’d say that each and every woman has her own share of insecurities and has got to make the best out of what she has at her beck and call by taking her own call.”

Katrina Kaif

Katrina does not also believe in being drawn into any kind of controversy. It is not just because she is a diplomat but this trait of hers stems from the fact that she is a nice soul at heart, a trait perhaps Salman Khan or for that matter Akshay Kumar can vouchsafe steadfastly. When we asked what she felt when Kareena Kapoor went on record in Karan Johar’s Koffee With Karan that Katrina and the other actresses follow her as far as size zero is concerned, Katrina  just shrugs it off by stating that she is not following anyone or copying any other actress. Instead of lashing at Kareena, Katrina says sweetly, “We must not forget the fact that Kareena Kapoor has reached the position in which she is today only because of a lot of hard work. Isn’t it?”

Though Katrina confesses that she does not generally read film magazines to get any information because all in the film industry are her colleagues about whom she knows a lot, she does concede that she tries to read reviews about her performance in trade papers. “Everyone likes to be recognized for his or her work. It can come from anywhere. As long as it comes, I am satisfied. I look at criticism as a learning curve to improve myself”. Katrina also adds that it is good that there are stars who still share a good relationship with the scribes. “I still do share good vibes with some journalists because they know that we are also human and hence they are restrained about what they write.”

In a light banter, Katrina shows her flair for humor when she tells me that she is open to anchoring a TV show or taking part in a reality show on TV provided it is in English and not Hindi.

Who has helped you reach the position you have reached today in your career?  I ask her gingerly. Kat does not pause to choose a diplomatic reply. “There have been too many who have been my Godfathers and I’d always be grateful to them. I also remember that I have had friends who have had both their parents who were connected with the film industry to help them, but unfortunately have not been able to click still. Salman Khan is one person who had always told me that I’d be successful one day. He is one person who genuinely believed in his heart that I would click in a big way in Bollywood even when I was going through a lean phase in the initial stages of my career. Akshay Kumar also took a big gamble by agreeing to work with me in HumKo Deewana Kar Gaye, when he was himself at the crossroads of his career. How can I possibly forget that?” 

When asked who she thinks is her lucky mascot- Salman Khan or Akshay Kumar, Katrina does not mince words. “Though I would like to think that both of them are my lucky mascots, the fact is that it is only a film that works and not the pair. Yuvraaj also had me and Salman but it crashed while Partner and Maine Pyar Kyun Kiya clicked at the box office. Though Namaste London, Singh Is Kinng etc with me and Akshay clicked; Humko Deewana Kar Gaye did not”. 

Katrina signs off the interview by admitting that it is by choice that she prefers to do very few films.