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Happy Birthday Katrina Kaif: 30 things you didn't know about the star

Katrina Kaif turns 30 today and here are 30 fun facts about her that you probably didn't know. Find out how we could have known her as Katrina Kazi instead of Kaif and what she likes to do in her me-time.

bollywood Updated: Jul 16, 2014 20:27 IST As the Bollywood diva turns 30 today, here are 30 fun facts about Katrina Kaif.


Boom was reportedly not supposed to be Katrina’s first film. She was first cast by Mahesh Bhatt in Saaya but later dropped, because she couldn’t speak Hindi at all. She then made her debut in Boom, in 2003.


In 2013, Katrina was the only woman who &shy;featured in the Top 10 of the Indian version of Forbes — Celebrity 100 — a list based on the income and &shy;popularity of India’s biggest entertainers—with an estimated annual earning of Rs 66cr.

3 For her Telugu film Malliswari (2004), she reportedly charged Rs 75 lakh, the highest amount paid to a female actor at that time, in South India &shy;cinema.

4Katrina is half British and half Indian. Her father, Mohammed Kaif, is a Brit businessman of Kashmiri descent. She has six sisters and one brother.

5 In her debut film, Boom’s producer Ayesha Shroff changed her second name from Turquotte to Kaif, as she felt that it wasn’t easy to &shy;pronounce. “We wanted to give her a surname which would be accepted by the Indian audience. We thought of naming her Katrina Kazi, but then we thought Kazi would have a religious overtone. So we finalised on Kaif,” said Shroff.

6 Katrina was born in Hong Kong but lived in Hawaii till she was 14, before moving to England, and finally Mumbai. She has travelled across China, France, Switzerland, Poland, Japan, Belgium, Poland and other European countries.

7 Katrina was home-schooled by her mother Suzanne, with the aid of correspondence courses.

8 Katrina began modelling professionally in London, and during one of the fashion shows as a part of London Fashion Week, it is believed that filmmaker Kaizad Gustad saw Katrina for the first time and offered her Boom (2003).

9 Katrina is slightly superstitious. She apparently visits the Siddhivinayak Temple and Mount Mary Church in Mumbai, and Dargah Sharif in Ajmer before her films’ release.

10 Katrina has also been an active &shy;philanthropist, who is involved in her mom’s charitable trust — the Relief Projects India, that &shy;rescues &shy;abandoned baby girls and works against female infanticide.|

11 In 2011, after years of denial about dating Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif finally accepted the relationship. “Salman Khan was my first serious &shy;relationship,” she said.

12 In 2010, she teamed up with music composer AR Rahman and released a music album, Rhymeskool, to raise money for building a school in Madurai.

13 Katrina reportedly has a few properties in England but apparently, she doesn’t have any &shy;property in India. She lives in a rented apartment in Bandra, Mumbai.

14 Katrina has been living in India for over a decade now, but being a British citizen, she works on an employment visa here.

15 After Boom flopped and Katrina was heavily criticised, she was quoted as saying, “I was living in England and it is acceptable there to show kissing and bodies in bikinis or skimpy clothes onscreen, but that is &shy;certainly not the case in India. I realise that with your first film you make an &shy;initial impression on the audience. And that was definitely not the role I wanted to be seen in.”

16 Katrina has worked in 21 Bollywood films so far, of which she has appeared alongside actor Akshay Kumar in the maxinum number of films (six).

17 Apart from working in Hindi films, Katrina has worked in two Telugu films and one Malayalam film with Malyalee superstar, Mammootty.

18 Katrina has been quoted saying that she is a very private person, and hence she is not on major social networking sites including Twitter and Facebook.

19 She is the first Bollywood actor to have a Barbie doll modelled on her.

20 Kat has won 23 awards across various award &shy;ceremonies till date.

21 Katrina reportedly charges Rs 5cr for an endorsement. At the same time, she is very choosy about what she promotes. “It is important for me that the product I endorse should deliver on its promise,” she said.

22 In 2011 and 2013, Katrina Kaif was named the most searched celebrity (Indian) on the internet. In 2011 she beat popular social activist, Anna Hazare and last year, she even beat her ex, Salman Khan in this race.

23 Her favourite bands are Muse, Radiohead and Coldplay.

24 Katrina is a big &shy;admirer of Leonardo DiCaprio and Johnny Depp. She’s also very fond of Kajol and Madhuri Dixit.

25 According to online reports, Katrina is afraid of the dark.

26 She is an avid chess player and is also fond of painting.

27 The famous Rs 2 lakh ($4,814) worth silver dress she flaunts in the movie Welcome (2007) was gifted to her by noted Italian fashion designer Emilio Pucci.

28 She likes English food and is very fond of Yorkshire pudding.

29 Katrina doesn’t like being called ‘Kat’. “Honestly, I don’t like it when people call me Kat, I don’t know who coined this name,” she once said.

30 One of Katrina’s younger sisters, Isabel Kaif, has studied in Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute of New York, the same institute where Katrina’s current rumoured partner Ranbir Kapoor studied.

(Compiled by Samarth Goyal)

Also read |Twitter wonder: Deepika Padukone wishes Katrina Kaif happy birthday

First Published: Jul 16, 2014 13:09 IST