Katrina Kaif: How Bollywood fell in love with a British unknown

A British actor brought up in London is set to become the most sought after superstar in the Bollywood film industry after her role in a blockbuster movie that opens in cinemas throughout the world this week. Katrina Kaif, daughter of a British charity worker and a Kashmiri father, watched her first Indian film on television in her home in Finchley when she was a teenager. Now her film, Tees Maar Khan, is predicted to be one of the biggest Bollywood hits of the year. The 26-year-old will fly back to London for the UK premiere on Wednesday. Kaif's role, shaped by India's top female director, Farah Khan, has been likened to Keira Knightley's breakthrough part in Pirates of the Caribbean. Kaif plays the girlfriend of a criminal who attempts to steal antiques from a moving train, but the predicted success of the film is mainly due to her performance in the song Sheila Ki Jawaani (Sheila's Blossoming Womanhood), a raunchy belly-dance number which has become the most downloaded track in India. The popularity of songs is seen as a key indicator of a film's success in an industry where the song sequences are often the most important part of the film, something which has both enchanted and baffled Western audiences. She was mobbed by fans outside Feltham Cineworld, north London, a scene that was repeated in Dubai and the US during the whirlwind publicity tour. Kaif's rise to stardom could have been taken from a Bollywood plot. Born in Hong Kong, she moved as a child to the UK after her parents divorced. She has seven sisters. She grew up on old Hollywood classics like Casablanca and her first experience of Bollywood came with Channel 4's annual Bollywood season. "Living in Finchley was a happy time for me," she said. "Although there were not a lot of Asian people in my area, in the UK and in London in particular the Asian culture and vibe is so strong, so I was very much aware of my Indian heritage and it was something that was at the forefront of my mind. Although I watched a lot of movies, the first time I saw some was on Channel 4. I was struck by their energy and vibrancy." She added: "At college, I had just one friend who was Asian and she came up with this wacky idea of going for a visit to India. I was going through a rough time and feeling unhappy with my life at that point, so I thought, why not? "We flew to Mumbai and she introduced me to a photographer friend of hers. I didn't have much of a portfolio then, so I had some pictures taken and through that I met some influential people like the editor of Indian Elle. As I had travelled so much in my childhood, it was not that much of a shock to move to a new city. If anything, I instantly felt at home. I slowly found my comfort zone and eventually it led to films." At first Kaif drew criticism for her poor Hindi, her western features and style – but the hybrid of influences from her well-travelled childhood had more in common with the middle-class Indian youth of today, who regularly travel abroad to study or socialise, and fitted the new trend for a more modern image of the Bollywood heroine. Kaif now spends several hours a day learning the language and traditional dance.