Katrina Kaif- Why Is She Always Trending?

Will the elusive, notoriously private Katrina Kaif finally make her social-media debut? Rujuta Vaidya Skypes with the star to find out

- Rujuta Vaidya

A few years ago, I saw Katrina Kaif at a cover shoot for Vogue. This morning, I spoke to her on the phone. Somehow, I have never seen and heard her together—we’ve maintained a respectable star-and scribe distance, which is in keeping with her rather old-school star persona. She is, after all, the ultimate woman of mystery. It’s only recently that she’s been flirting with Instagram. And tweeting from the red carpet.

Even as we talk today, it is over computer screens, visuals and voices distorted by the world wide web. And while this makes complete sense given that she is on the cover of our digital special, the medium was really more a result of her manic schedule than any predilection on my part. It’s been a long week of chasing her for the interview and before I can complain I remind myself: we are both working on a Sunday night.

She’s just back from the four-daylong cover shoot for Vogue in Cebu in the Philippines, cheerfully braving a daily commute that involved a long car ride and two boat rides. She packs as we talk, dressed in a white tank with her hair pulled back for maximum efficiency. I’m told she has about 40 minutes to wrap up the interview before she heads to the airport to fly to Morocco for her upcoming film, Jagga Jasoos.

Even as she meticulously rolls her tees (in a manner that would make or-ganisational guru Marie Kondo proud), it’s evident that Kaif doesn’t like to be boxed into a stereotype. She seems perfectly fine with or without a rumoured man in her life. And she took us by surprise by being an absolute sport diving with whale sharks in Cebu. “I was freaked out for five minutes. Once you realise that they are only interested in their food [plankton]; and that they don’t care about you being around that much, you’ll be fine,” she says.