Katrina Kaif : I will,I will, for now
 Her jackpot genetics are on full display as she poses, pouts and pirouettes for the camera. She looks luminous, like she’s never had a bad hair day in her life. As we chat in between her shots, Yes, she’s got showbiz natter down pat in her two-and-a-half year stay here.
“I guess I’ll always remain an outsider, though,” she confesses. “I may be an Indian but being brought up in England has conditioned me to a certain behavioral pattern, of which I don’t see myself letting go. Apart from that, I guess I’ve adjusted well. I’ve learnt the dos and don’ts of the industry. I know how it functions. I’m getting there.”
Her aim is straightforward: she wants to make it here. So, to begin with, she started seeing Hindi movies. Then, she’s learnt to read, write Hindi and speak Hindi far better than she did the last time I met her. “My conversational skills still need working upon. But I’m not too bad. I can manage lengthy dialogue,” she smiles guilelessly.
What about her acting skills? “That’s something for others to decide after my first Hindi film is released,” she replies promptly. “Only then can my life take a defnite course. Right now, I’m in limbo, waiting for my results to be out,” she says, like a nervous student.
After a pause, she lets on, “See, no matter how many interviews I give, how many fashion shows or ads I appear in, the bottom-line will always be about how good I am in my movies. If I’m not, then anything else will matter.”
David Dhawan’s movie, she believes, will be her litmus test. Ask her about the movie and she says gaily, “It was a great experience for someone like me to do a hardcore commercial film. When you are on a David Dhawan set, you have to be on your toes, quick with your reactions. He watches a scene as if he’s watching a play, like someone in the audience. If he doesn’t like it, he’ll say, ‘Cut, no masti happening.’ But whatever we’ve shot till now is pretty entertaining.”
And what was it like working with Salman Khan, I ask with a straight face. She refuses to bite the bait. Calmly, she remarks, “He’s very professional, great to work with. He’s kind and supportive. And he’s very intelligent. He puts a lot into his scenes and that helps his co-stars tremendously. But all that goes for Sohail Khan and Sushmita Sen too. They were extremely helpful as well.”
Then I send down the wrong ’un. I want to know if their off-the-sets relationship spilt over to the sets. But she counters it confidently. Without batting an eyelid, she says, “We are paid to be in the film, to be on the sets and act. And we do our jobs. Rumours don’t affect me when I’m on the sets. I put all my energies into my scenes. What people have to say about me really doesn’t affect me.”
She then stonewalls all questions about Salman Khan. Says she, “A lot of actresses put their life up in public. It works for them. But it doesn’t work for me. I don’t like to talk about my personal life. I don’t discuss my parents or my friends, in public. So why should I discuss Salman Khan?” Then rolling her eyes theatrically, she adds, “Anyway, Filmfare is a film magazine, not a romance novel.” Told you she’s learnt the showbiz natter.
The media, on its part, hasn’t exactly waited for an invitation; much has already been written about the relationship. Surprisingly, she says she isn’t irked by the media’s constant questioning. “They are just doing their job,” she pitches it just right. “They are going to ask me what they find interesting and not what I want them to ask. I can only hope that I’m represented in the right way. And focus on things that matter to me.”
One of which is Ram Gopal Varma’s Sarkar. The upcoming actress is quite tickled by the fact that he’s signed her for his movie. “You know, rumours that he had signed me were circulating long before he actually had. Everywhere I went they asked me about his movie and I had no clue. When I met Ramuji, we laughed about the whole thing. Next thing I know he calls me up and says he wants me in the movie. I was taken aback.”
Then she adds, “The moment Sarkar wasn announced, I’d told a friend of mine, how I wish I was in a project like this. I must have really wanted it, for it came true. I really believe in the power of the mind.”
She announces she’s truly happy with the way life is progressing. “Things can only get better from here. There are a few other offers which I’m considering. I’m not in a hurry and I guess, neither are the film-makers. They’re all waiting for my release to decide which way the wind will blow. But I’m okay with that.”
Could her relationship with Salman Khan have some bearing on the film-makers’ decision? She doesn’t discount it. “Maybe there’s some slight uncertainty in the industry regarding what I want to do. But I think they’ll judge me on the basis of my performance. If they like me, they’ll give me the benefit of the doubt. They’ll take me on irrespective. My alleged relationship with anyone won’t matter then.”
As you can see, Katrina isn’t afraid to show her insecurities. She makes her own choices and she doesn’t rely on a posse of handlers to tell her what to do. “I don’t have anyone to advise me about whether I’m making the right choices or not,” she remarks. “Being all by yourself creates its own set of problems. It could all end tomorrow for me. The industry may not like me. Then what? Which is why I never say movies are my calling card. I may think they are, but the industry may not.”
But on a positive note, she adds, “I have no complaints though. Whatever I’ve got is so much more than what I ever thought I would. There are times when I go on a self–pity trip—there’s no one for me, blah blah blah. But really I’m much better off than so many people. So what’s there to worry?”
You said it, Katrina.
ANURADHA CHOUDHARY
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TM
