Born in Hong Kong, Kaif and her family lived in numerous
countries for varying lengths of time before she migrated to India. Kaif
received her first modelling assignment as a teenager, and later pursued a
career as a fashion model. During a show in London, Kaizad Gustad cast her in
his film Boom (2003), a critical and commercial failure. While shooting for the
picture in India, Kaif began receiving other assignments and soon established a
successful career as a model, though filmmakers were hesitant to cast her due
to her poor grasp of Hindi. After appearing in a successful Telugu film
Malliswari (2004), she earned commercial success in Bollywood with the romantic
comedies Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya (2005) and Namastey London (2007), of which the
latter garnered her praise for her performance. She followed with a series of
financially successful male-centric films, but was criticised for having little
to do in them.
A performance oriented role in the 2009 terrorism drama
New York was more well received, earning her praise and a Filmfare Award for
Best Actress nomination. She subsequently featured in more prominent roles in
successful films like Raajneeti (2010), Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (2011), Mere
Brother Ki Dulhan (2011) and Ek Tha Tiger (2012). She also featured briefly in
the action thriller Dhoom 3 (2013), which emerged as the highest-grossing
Bollywood film of all time. Despite receiving mixed reviews from critics for
her acting prowess, she has established herself as a commercially successful
actress of Hindi cinema.
In addition to acting, Kaif is involved with her mother's
charity and participates in stage shows. She is known to be particularly
guarded about her personal life, of which has been the subject of extensive
media scrutiny. Kaif's background has also been the topic of much discussion,
having being accused by various sources of fabricating her history.Katrina Kaif
was born in Hong Kong—with her mother's surname Turquotte also spelt Turcotte
on 16 July 1983. According to Kaif, her father, Mohammed Kaif is a British
businessman of Kashmiri decent, and her mother Suzanne also spelt Susanna, is
an English lawyer and charity worker. Kaif has seven siblings—three older
sisters (Stephanie, Christine and Natasha), three younger sisters Melissa,
Sonia and Isabel, and an older brother named Michael. Isabel is also a model
and actress. Kaif's parents divorced when she was very young, after which her
father moved to America. She says that her father "unfortunately, and not
out of choice, has had no influence on upbringing on religious or social or
moral bearings." Kaif and her siblings were raised by their mother, who
she believed "did a wonderful job. On her father's absence in her life,
Kaif stated "When I see friends who have wonderful fathers who are like
pillars of support for their families, I say, if only I had that. But instead
of complaining, I should be grateful for all the other things I have." In
a 2009 interview to The Indian Express, Kaif stated that she was not in touch
with her father.
Kaif's mother, at a young age, decided to "dedicate
her life to social causes," which led to the relocation of their family to
numerous countries for varying lengths of time. After her birth in Hong Kong,
Kaif and her family moved to China, and then to Japan. From there, she went to
France when she was eight, and thereafter lived for a few months at a time in
Switzerland, Poland, Belgium, and other European countries. Subsequently, Kaif
moved with her family to Hawaii and eventually to her mother's home country of
England. Due to their constant relocation, Kaif and her siblings were
home-schooled by a series of tutors. Though it is often assumed that Kaif grew
up in London, she lived there for only three years before migrating to India.
According to Kaif, after relocating to India, she changed her surname to that
of her father's as she believed it would be easier to pronounce.
Kaif's background is enshrouded in mystery; several
sources have questioned the authenticity of her claims of having a Kashmiri
father. In a 2011 interview to Mumbai Mirror, Ayesha Shroff producer of Kaif's
debut film Boom accused Kaif of fabricating her history. She said "We
created an identity for her. She was this pretty young English girl, and we
gave her the Kashmiri father and thought of calling her Katrina Kazi. We
thought we'd give her some kind of Indian ancestry, to connect with the
audience But then we thought that Kazi sounded too religious We were to
introduce her to the press and at that time, Mohammad Kaif was at the top, and
so we said, Katrina Kaif sounds really great. Kaif responded by calling her
comments "hurtful.
Kaif first expressed interest in a modelling career as a
teenager, when she won a beauty contest in Hawaii, and subsequently received
her first assignment as a model—a jewellery campaign. She began to model
professionally in London, where she worked for various freelance agencies and
featured regularly at the London Fashion Week. Her appearance at a fashion show
attracted the attention of London-based filmmaker Kaizad Gustad, who selected
Kaif for a role in the English / Hindi erotic heist film Boom, alongside an
ensemble cast consisting of Amitabh Bachchan, Gulshan Grover, Jackie Shroff,
Madhu Sapre and Padma Lakshmi. While shooting for the film in India, Kaif began
receiving other offers, and decided to stay in the country. In 2003, she
received recognition as a model after walking the ramp for Rohit Bal at the
India Fashion Week at the show, fashion designer Manish Arora opined that
"she is easily the most sensuous rampwalker today. have sex appeal too but
Katrina is something else. Kaif also appeared in the first edition of the
popular print campaign for the 2003 Kingfisher Calendar. She soon established a
successful modelling career in India after endorsing prominent brands like
Coca-Cola, LG, Fevicol and Samsung.
Kaif's successful modelling stint led to immense
anticipation surrounding her Bollywood debut. Boom (2003) had its first
screening at the Cannes Film Festival and was also heavily promoted at the
event. However, ten days prior to the film's release, it was reported that
pirated VCDs of the film's uncut version were being sold on the black market.
Boom failed commercially as well as critically. Kaif's enactment of a
supermodel ensnared in the Mumbai underworld was not well received, with Ziya
U. Salam of The Hindu attributing the poor performances of the film's leading
ladies to "the vacuity of their expressions. Post-release, Kaif was
written off due to her poor Hindi and thick British accent. On its failure,
Kaif dismissed the film, saying I don't count Boom among important happenings
in my life. When I signed this film, I didn't know much about India and its film
audience. I got to know later that the film had major flaws in terms of script
and presentation.
Kaif was later offered a number of modelling assignments,
though filmmakers were hesitant to cast her due to her poor command in Hindi;
in one such incident, she was unceremoniously removed from the film Saaya.
Subsequently, Kaif began working on her diction through Hindi classes.
After the failure of her first Bollywood venture, Kaif
took on the Telugu film Malliswari (2004). Cast opposite Daggubati Venkatesh,
the film saw Kaif play the titular role of a princess—heiress to INR7 billion
(US$110 million) who is forced to flee from her murderous caretaker. For the
film, she reportedly received INR7.5 million (US$120,000), the highest amount
paid to an actress in the South industry at the time of release. Despite
negative reviews for her acting, the film emerged as an economic success.
The following year, Kaif appeared briefly as Abhishek
Bachchan's girlfriend in Ram Gopal Varma's political thriller Sarkar, and
subsequently featured in her first major Hindi film role in David Dhawan's
adaptation of the romantic comedy Cactus Flower entitled Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya,
alongside Salman Khan, Sushmita Sen and Sohail Khan. The film was a profitable
venture and for her role as a model with suicidal tendencies, Kaif received the
Stardust Award for Breakthrough Performance Female. Sukanya Verma of reviewed
"Katrina's Disney princess like charm adds to her adorable screen
presence." She followed this with her second Telugu release Allari Pidugu
where she played a small role alongside Balakrishna.
In 2006, she was paired opposite Akshay Kumar for the
first time (the duo later appeared in numerous successful films together) in
Raj Kanwar's Humko Deewana Kar Gaye, which was financially unsuccessful. The
film tells the story of two like-minded strangers who fall in love despite
being engaged to other people. A reviewer writing for Sify said that
"Katrina is passably competent in a tailor-made role, giving a mild
emotional spin to a couple of scenes" but added that she was overshadowed
by the film's supporting actresses. Kaif also appeared alongside Mammootty in a
Malayalam film—the crime thriller Balram vs. Tharadas—which was a profitable
production. Rishi Raj Singh of The Hindu was impressed with Kaif's performance
and published that she is "marvellous" in her role.
The year 2007 brought about a change in Kaif's acting
career, when she appeared in four Hindi films, all of which were successful at
the box office. In an interview with The Indian Express, Kaif opined that her
starring role in Vipul Amrutlal Shah's romantic comedy Namastey London marked
an important milestone, claiming that "for the first time, had a
dominating role" and "got a good response from the industry. She used
her experiences in London as a reference point for her role as a spoilt British
Indian girl who is intent on marrying her self-centred British boyfriend
despite her parents' disapproval. Critics were divided in the film itself,
though Kaif's performance attracted favourable reviews. Sukanya Verma wrote
that she "suits the role to the T" and "brings the zingy mix of
her character alive with style and substance. Kaif's chemistry with lead actor
Akshay Kumar also generated immense appreciation, with Nikhat Kazmi of The
Times of India describing their pairing as refreshing.She next appeared in a
supporting role for the Anil Sharma-directed melodramatic sports film Apne,
that featured Dharmendra, Sunny Deol, Bobby Deol, Kirron Kher and Shilpa Shetty
in prominent roles. After Apne, she reunited with director David Dhawan for the
comedy Partner (an unofficial remake of Hitch), where she starred alongside
Salman Khan, Govinda and Lara Dutta. With a worldwide revenue of INR1.03
billion (US$17 million), the film emerged a blockbuster. Kaif's final release
of the year was Anees Bazmee's multistarrer comedy Welcome, in which she was
cast alongside Akshay Kumar, Nana Patekar, Mallika Sherawat and Anil Kapoor.
The film earned little praise from critics but became Kaif's second consecutive
blockbuster, with worldwide earnings of INR1.16 billion (US$19 million).
Despite these films performing well at the box office, Kaif's roles were noted
to be similar by Shoma Chaudhury of Tehelka, who called her "unabashed
eye-candy", and added that she was "a pretty prop in Welcome"
and "more of the same in Partner and Apne."
The following year, Kaif collaborated with Saif Ali Khan,
Akshaye Khanna, Bipasha Basu, Anil Kapoor and Sameera Reddy for Abbas-Mustan's
action thriller Race. The film follows the story of two
stepbrothers-turned-rivals who are in contention of their father's insurance
payment. Kaif enacted the role of Ranveer's (played by Khan) double-crossing
secretary and the lover of his stepbrother (played by Khanna). Race continued
Kaif's slew of successes, though Nikhat Kazmi noted that "Katrina is too
pale as the blousy secretary." She was more appreciative of the film,
praising its "super cool look [and] testosterone-high action sequences.
Kaif was next seen in Anees Bazmee's action comedy Singh Is Kinng, as Akshay
Kumar's love interest and Ranvir Shorey's fiancee. With worldwide earnings of
INR1.25 billion (US$21 million), the film was declared a super hit, making it
Kaif's sixth consecutive success at the box office. Kaif earned mixed reviews
for her performance; in a particularly critical review, Rajeev Masand of CNN
IBN commented that "Katrina Kaif is an eyesore her acting so weak you want
to urge her to watch everyone from Madhubala to Madhuri so she might pick up a few
tricks.
Kaif's final release of 2008—the Subhash Ghai-directed
drama Yuvvraaj—was a major failure at the box office. To prepare for her role
as a cellist, Kaif practised playing the instrument alongside orchestra
members. Her portrayal of a girl forbidden by her father from marrying her poor
lover was well received by critic Sonia Chopra, who opined that "Katrina
is wonderful, plays the cello convincingly, and looks ethereal. Despite the
film receiving mixed reviews as a whole, its script was added to the library of
the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences due to its artistic merit.
During this period, Kaif's voice was often dubbed by
dubbing artists such as Mona Ghosh Shetty, since she was inarticulate in Hindi
and other Indian languages. While Kaif was a part of a string of successful
movies at this stage, film critics observed that she had little to do as her
films were generally male-centric. She also received mostly negative reviews
for her acting prowess. On her series of glamorous roles, Kaif reflected that
her "first few films were really a process of learning There was no
target.
After a string of films in which she was cast merely for
her glamour quotient, Kaif's role in the 2009 terrorism drama New York brought
her recognition for her acting. The Kabir Khan-directed film narrated the story
of three friends and how their lives are changed when one of them is wrongly
detained after 9/11. Cast alongside John Abraham, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Irrfan
Khan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Kaif portrayed the character of Maya, a college
student who is later married to a terrorist. On her role, Kaif remarked that
she identified with Maya as she felt similar isolation while growing up in
London because of her skin colour. Kaif further opined that she had
"played the arm candy in one too many films in the past" and was
looking to work in more performance oriented films like New York. The film did
well at the box office and received positive reviews. Critic Subhash K. Jha
mentioned that Kaif "comes into her own as an actress of substance From
the carefree effervescent campus girl to the anguished wife, Katrina makes the
journey look plausible all the way." New York earned Kaif her first
Filmfare nomination for Best Actress. She also appeared in a cameo for India's
first underwater thriller Blue.
Rajkumar Santoshi's hit comedy Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani
(2009) saw Kaif star opposite Ranbir Kapoor as an orphan who is forced to marry
a rich man against her wishes. Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama commented that
"Katrina Kaif continues to surprise She scores in both emotional and light
scenes," adding that her chemistry with Kapoor is "electrifying. Her
final release of the year was in Priyadarshan's multistarrer comedy De Dana
Dan, alongside Akshay Kumar, Sunil Shetty, Paresh Rawal, Sameera Reddy and Neha
Dhupia.