Katrina Kaif’s Journey: Celebrating 40 Years of Life and Stardom

Katrina Kaif, one of India’s most successful superstars, had to work hard to achieve the prefix ‘actor’. Before she was appreciated for her performances, Katrina was known for her glam appearances and killer dance moves. We revisit the time Katrina had spoken about her career graph, and finally being accepted as a serious actor after spending over two decades in Bollywood.

Katrina made her acting debut with Boom (2003), a film she said she would want to “erase” from her filmography. However, after doing a string of glamorous roles, the actress shone through her acting chops starting with Rajneeti, Zero, New York, Bharat and her action sequences in the Tiger franchise.

In an earlier interview with indianexpress.com, Katrina had opened up about taking twenty years to prove herself as a “serious actor”, She had said, “I think it is wonderful. Growth is important in anyone’s life and in any profession you are in. You have to have growth and you have to evolve. It is important how people saw my journey say from New York, Namastey London, Rajneeti and now if they look at my work differently… I am happy that I am growing in my profession.

“I feel very fortunate that I have experienced so many beautiful things in all these years. I have seen ups, downs, the worst and the best of times. I just feel fortunate for everything I have gone through,” she added.

Katrina is one of the least accessible and enigmatic stars even in the age of social media. Fans are always curious about her personal life and what’s next for her. Katrina found love in Vicky Kaushal and the two of them tied the knot last year. She had earlier opened up about her biggest takeaway from love, life and work.

About approaching love, she had said, “It is all unpredictable. You will never know what is going to happen. So I believe in giving it my best and not to stress too much about the future. It is all about enjoying what is today and to try and do what I am doing now with the best of my ability.”

Katrina, then opened up about how she “feels funny” now when she revisits her work after all these years. She had said, “If I see something that I did when I first started out or when an ad or video clip from my initial work comes online. I laugh about it. When these things come up, I think about the head space that I was in and it all feels funny now. But over all, I have had a really great time.”

Katrina turns 40 this year, and has a succesful career of two decades in the Hindi film industry. However, the actor describes her journey as “cumbersome and tiresome”.

“It is very cumbersome and tiresome to look back. So, I don’t really look back. I just try to be here and look forward. Now what’s done is done. Even when things have been wonderful and fantastic for me, I am only looking forward to what is next. I have enjoyed myself, and I have got to be a part of some amazing films, play some incredible roles and work with the best people in the industry. But now I only look forward to what I want to do from here on.”

Rather than looking back, she says, she loves looking forward to things, be in different places and on film sets. “I want to be in places and on sets that give me a chance to play an exciting role. I think I have ticked most of the other boxes of what I wanted to do when I first started out as an actor. Even then I was very clear about what I wanted to do and the kind of films I wanted to do. I knew what I wanted to see myself as. And I was able to do all of that. Now it is all about what I want to do in the next phase of my career and life.”