Katrina Kaif: Rekha Of Today's Age

Intensely private and completely in control, Katrina Kaif is inarguably Bollywoods most reserved celebrity, her well-guarded life more evocative of old-world showbiz than the digitally savvy stardom of today. Megha Mahindru attempts to peek in.

- Megha Mahindru, photographs by Signe Vilstrup

The last movie that Katrina Kaif enjoyed watching was Inside Out, the Pixar movie that looks inside the mind of 11-year-old Riley. She even cried when Bing Bong, Riley’s imaginary friend, an elephant-cat-dolphin hybrid, disappears. “It’s such an important film. I've never been in a room where there were so many men who were so touched and moved by a movie; I guess this is the way to explain things to guys. This movie just explained everything I’ve been trying to say—that we all start out happy and, as you go along, layers of experiences start covering you up, making you forget the person you really were,” she says.

This may be the closest we will ever get to the inner workings of Katrina Kaif’s mind. That’s the thing about Kaif—she is so good at being a celebrity, the real her seems illusory.

So when we finally agree to meet on the sets of Phantom, even the trek to Film City, located at the edge of suburban Mumbai, seems reasonable. On location, the set resembles Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar, shoehorned with oriental bric-a-bracs—oversized brass teapots and colourful lanterns. Surrounding me is an army of dancers—Eastern European women bedecked in sparkling Middle-Eastern attire and men sporting dark kohl and long, unkempt hair—only reinstating my geographical guess. But there is no sign of Katrina Kaif.

(On Sona: Dress, jacket; both Anna Sui. Ring, Pebble London. On Nisha: Dress, Vineet Bahl. On Katrina: Crêpe de Chine dress, skull bracelets, rosary necklace with coral imitation seashells; all Givenchy by Riccardo Tisci. Ring, Aquamarine. Booties, Burberry. On Rachel: Dress, cape; both Erdem. Necklace, Outhouse. Ring, Pebble London. On Zreh: Orange vest, FabIndia)