Saturday, August 1, 2009

Katrina Kaif’s 25th birthday a family affair in London0 comments

By BW Team
Posted on 15 Jul 2009 at 10:56pm

katrina kaif london 200x300 Katrina Kaifs 25th birthday a family affair in LondonNew Delhi, Katrina Kaif has many reasons to smile. First her recent release “New York” became a huge success and now comes her birthday, which the British-born actress will celebrate with her entire family in London Thursday.

“I’m celebrating my birthday this year with my entire family, all my sisters who have flown down from all over, my mom who’s flown down from Chennai and my brother who’s a professional rock climber,” Katrina, who will turn 25, told IANS through SMS.

“I was supposed to spend a long holiday with them last year during Christmas and New Year in London, but I had to cut my trip short because of my work schedule. So this year I’m specially taking time out for them and we are going to Italy for a family get together. I haven’t had a break in almost two years, so I’m looking forward to this,” added the actress.

Last year her birthday bash turned ugly when beau Salman Khan picked a fight with Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan. So this year Katrina is celebrating her birthday away from tinsel town.

She is just six years old in the industry, but has found a firm foothold.

Katrina’s first break in Bollywood was Kaizad Gustad’s 2003 “Boom”. Though the film was a flop, people started noticing her and offered her roles and one of them was Ram Gopal Varma’s 2005 film “Sarkar”. She had a small role as Abhishek Bachchan’s girlfriend, but made her presence felt in the film, which was a Mumbai underworld interpretation of Mario Puzo’s 1969 novel “The Godfather”.

Katrina’s big success came in the form of 2008 super hit film “Namastey London” and she continued her winning streak with “Apne”, “Partner”, “Welcome”, “Race” and “Singh Is Kinng”.

Subhash Ghai’s “Yuvvraaj” disrupted it, but only for a brief period, as Katrina bounced back with the commercial and critical success of Kabir Khan’s “New York”, a film about 9/11.

According to film critics, with big banners, huge fan-base and several brand endorsements, Katrina is currently one of the most sought after actresses in the Hindi film industry.

“Katrina has evolved immensely as an actress. In Bollywood, actors are mostly known for the number of hits they deliver. Katrina has won hands down in that respect. She can undoubtedly be called a lucky mascot for her producers,” said popular film critic Taran Adarsh.

Mumbai-based film critic Anupama Chopra says there are high expectations from Katrina even this year.

“Katrina has had a fortunate choice of films” even though she “had a rather unfortunate start with ‘Boom’. She is a stunning looking actress and so far she is doing well with her glam doll image. We did see glimpses of an actor in her performance-oriented roles in ‘Namastey London’,” said Chopra.

Her basket is full of good roles - she will be seen in films like “Blue” starring Akshay Kumar and Sanjay Dutt, Rajkumar Santoshi’s “Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani” and Priyadarshan’s “De Dana Dan” yet again starring Akshay. She is also doing the female lead in Prakash Jha’s political drama “Rajneeti”.

Katrina is one of eight siblings. Her mother is British and her father is from Jammu and Kashmir who has since acquired British citizenship.

The actress spent her formative years in Hawaii but later moved to London.

Friday, July 31, 2009

Katrina Kaif (Hindi: कत्रिना कैफ़; born 16 July 1984) is a Hong Kong-born British-Indian actress and model who has appeared in Hindi, Telugu and Malayalam films. Since 2007 she has starred in several commercially successful films, which made her one of the popular actresses in current Bollywood.


Katrina Kaif
Early life

Katrina Kaif was born in Hong Kong to a Kashmiri Muslim father, Mohammed Kaif, and a British Christian mother, Suzzane. Her mother, a Harvard graduate, was a lawyer but later became involved in charity work. Her parents separated when Kaif was very young. Kaif has seven siblings. She was raised in Hawaii and later moved to her mother's home country, England. At age fourteen she was approached by an agent and began modeling; her first job was for a jewelry campaign. She continued modeling in London.

Career

Kaif's London modeling work led to her discovery by filmmaker Kaizad Gustad, who gave her a part in his film Boom (2003). She moved to Mumbai and was offered a number of modeling assignments. However, filmmakers were at first hesitant to sign her because she was not able to speak Hindi.[1]

Katrina saw success with the 2005 film Sarkar where she played the brief role of Abhishek Bachchan's girlfriend. Her next release, Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya (2005), where she was paired opposite Salman Khan, earned her an award at the Stardust Award for breakthrough female performance.

In 2007 Katrina appeared in the hit movie Namastey London, wherein she starred as a British girl alongside Akshay Kumar for the second time after the box office dud Humko Deewana Kar Gaye. She then worked on a series of box office hits that include Apne, Partner and Welcome.[2]

2008 saw her play a negative role for the first time in Abbas-Mustan's hit action thriller Race. She played the role of Saif Ali Khan's secretary who is secretly in love with his hostile stepbrother played by Akshay Khanna. She appeared next in Anees Bazmee's box office super-hit Singh Is Kinng alongside Akshay Kumar for the fourth time. Kaif's final release of the year, Subhash Ghai's Yuvvraaj, was a surprise critical and commercial failure. [3]

Kaif's first release for 2009, New York, with John Abraham was a critical and commercial success.[4]

In the media

Kaif was voted Asia's Sexiest women in 2008 and was also the most searched celebrity on Google.[5] Kaif was also recently seen on the Reality Show 10 Ka Dum, along with Neil Nitin Mukesh for the promotion of her film New York. [6] Kaif appeared on the singing talent show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa with Salman Khan to promote her film Yuvvraaj.[7] Kaif is the model for Mattel's Bollywood Barbie, which will be released in September 2009.[8]

Filmography

YearFilmRoleNotes
2003BoomRina Kaif / Popdi Chinchpokli
2004MalliswariPrincess MalliswariTelugu film
2005SarkarPooja
Maine Pyaar Kyun KiyaSonia
Allari PiduguShwethaTelugu film
2006Hum Ko Deewana Kar GayeJia A. Yashvardhan
Balram vs. TaradasSupriyaMalayalam film
2007Namastey LondonJasmeet Malhotra (Jazz)
ApneNandini
PartnerPriya Jaisingh
WelcomeSanjana Shetty
2008RaceSophiaFirst villain role
Singh Is KinngSonia
HelloThe Storyteller/GodSpecial appearance
YuvvraajAnushka Banton
2009New YorkMaya
BlueReleasing on October 10, 2009
Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab KahaniJennyReleasing on November 06, 2009
De Dana DanReleasing on November 27, 2009
2010RajneetiFilming
Padosan RemakePre-production

Awards