Katrina Kaif (Hindi: कत्रिना कैफ़; born 16 July 1984) is a Hong Kong-born British-Indian actress andmodel 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 currentBollywood.

Early life

Katrina Kaif was born in Hong Kong to a Kashmiri Muslim father, Mohammed Kaif, and a BritishChristian 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 toMumbai 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 theReality 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]