An outsider turned insider: India celebrates Katrina Kaif's birthday

Guwahati: The one feature that Katrina Kaif has accomplished is her means to dismantle clichés. She is an outsider who made it large as an insider in Bollywood -- the land of dreams.

She was not initially able to converse in Hindi, but often dreamt of making it big as a Hindi movie heroine. She came in from London, sans film family connections or a pageant win, or any contacts, or godfather. Now, she is one of the highest-paid actresses across India.

She first received her modelling assignment as a teenager and later pursued a career as a fashion model.

Beginning with a critical and commercial disaster called Boom (1999), Katrina has advanced as an actor who understands her limitations, works on her strengths as an entertainer, and has made some sensible decisions.

Born to Mohammed Kaif, a Kashmiri Muslim father, and Susanna Turcotte, a British mother (they were both British citizens), she is one of eight siblings and has lived in countries around the world. 

When she began out in the late '90s, apart from her attractive looks, there was little else she could count on to make it as a successful actress. In the late '90s, she began out like many actresses do – as a mannequin – in London. It was there that Kaizad Gustad spotted her and featured her in the disasterpiece 'Boom'.  Unaware of the Indian audiences' preferences and with a poor command over Hindi, Katrina was universally panned. However, her subsequent ventures proved to be more successful.

In a career spanning 18 lead roles, Katrina has had an incredible tally of three super-hits ("Partner," "Welcome," "Raajneeti"), seven hits ("Namastey London," "Apne," "Singh Is Kinng," "Race," "New York," "Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani", "Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara") and two average grossers ("Maine Pyar Kyun Kiya," "Sarkar"), an incredible score of 67 percent success that is double the success ratio of every A-list star's career in the business, male or female.

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