Katrina Kaif Unplugged!

Katrina Kaif has remained a steadfast professional and a poker-faced public figure in spite of harsh criticism about her work and chatter about her personal life. It’s been hard, she tells Rajeev Masand, but it’s made her lean harder into who she is and where she wants to go next.

- Rajeev Masand

From stereotypes (“pretty face, can’t act”) and prejudices (“she only continues to get work because of Salman”), to complicated, much-scrutinised romantic relationships (Salman Khan, Ranbir Kapoor), Katrina Kaif has overcome many challenges to remain firmly in the reckoning. Some 15 years since she arrived as a breath of fresh air in Bollywood, she won her first acting award recently for playing a movie star whose break-up sends her into a spiral of depression and alcoholism in the Shah Rukh Khan starrer Zero (2018). It was an affecting performance, and arguably her strongest to date, but her critics sniggered that it only felt authentic because she was playing a character not far removed from herself.

Katrina Kaif can’t seem to catch a break. But today, dressed simply in an oversized sweatshirt and trackpants, her hair tied up in a bun, reading glasses perched on her nose as she’s snuggled into a sofa at her home (she’s returned to the same rental she was staying at before she got a place with her ex, Ranbir), she displays the kind of patience and understanding that come from deep introspection. As she reaches for the tall beaker of water with lemon slices and mint leaves that is placed conveniently within reach, she admits she’s been reading a lot lately, and has been feeling more empowered. She uses the word “authentic” frequently, talks about “the universe” a lot, and appears to be at peace with her place in it currently…

Rajeev Masand: How would you describe your current state of mind?

Katrina Kaif: Oh wow… I think it’s about wanting to learn, create, do something interesting. My mind is so attuned to work, so I think that’s what you attract. I have strong ideas about certain concepts, film ideas, or franchises that I want to create. I feel this is the time to try new things.