Born in Hong Kong, Kaif and her family lived in numerous countries for varying lengths of time before she migrated to India. Kaif received her first modelling assignment as a teenager, and later pursued a career as a fashion model. During a show in London, Kaizad Gustad cast her in his film Boom (2003), a critical and commercial failure. While shooting for the picture in India, Kaif began receiving other assignments and soon established a successful career as a model, though filmmakers were hesitant to cast her due to her poor grasp of Hindi. After appearing in a successful Telugu film Malliswari (2004), she earned commercial success in Bollywood with the romantic comedies Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya (2005) and Namastey London (2007), of which the latter garnered her praise for her performance. She followed with a series of financially successful male-centric films, but was criticised for having little to do in them.
A performance oriented role in the 2009 terrorism drama New York was more well received, earning her praise and a Filmfare Award for Best Actress nomination. She subsequently featured in more prominent roles in successful films like Raajneeti (2010), Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (2011), Mere Brother Ki Dulhan (2011) and Ek Tha Tiger (2012). She also featured briefly in the action thriller Dhoom 3 (2013), which emerged as the highest-grossing Bollywood film of all time. Despite receiving mixed reviews from critics for her acting prowess, she has established herself as a commercially successful actress of Hindi cinema.
In addition to acting, Kaif is involved with her mother's charity and participates in stage shows. She is known to be particularly guarded about her personal life, of which has been the subject of extensive media scrutiny. Kaif's background has also been the topic of much discussion, having being accused by various sources of fabricating her history.Katrina Kaif was born in Hong Kong—with her mother's surname Turquotte also spelt Turcotte on 16 July 1983. According to Kaif, her father, Mohammed Kaif is a British businessman of Kashmiri decent, and her mother Suzanne also spelt Susanna, is an English lawyer and charity worker. Kaif has seven siblings—three older sisters (Stephanie, Christine and Natasha), three younger sisters Melissa, Sonia and Isabel, and an older brother named Michael. Isabel is also a model and actress. Kaif's parents divorced when she was very young, after which her father moved to America. She says that her father "unfortunately, and not out of choice, has had no influence on upbringing on religious or social or moral bearings." Kaif and her siblings were raised by their mother, who she believed "did a wonderful job. On her father's absence in her life, Kaif stated "When I see friends who have wonderful fathers who are like pillars of support for their families, I say, if only I had that. But instead of complaining, I should be grateful for all the other things I have." In a 2009 interview to The Indian Express, Kaif stated that she was not in touch with her father.
Kaif's mother, at a young age, decided to "dedicate her life to social causes," which led to the relocation of their family to numerous countries for varying lengths of time. After her birth in Hong Kong, Kaif and her family moved to China, and then to Japan. From there, she went to France when she was eight, and thereafter lived for a few months at a time in Switzerland, Poland, Belgium, and other European countries. Subsequently, Kaif moved with her family to Hawaii and eventually to her mother's home country of England. Due to their constant relocation, Kaif and her siblings were home-schooled by a series of tutors. Though it is often assumed that Kaif grew up in London, she lived there for only three years before migrating to India. According to Kaif, after relocating to India, she changed her surname to that of her father's as she believed it would be easier to pronounce.
Kaif's background is enshrouded in mystery; several sources have questioned the authenticity of her claims of having a Kashmiri father. In a 2011 interview to Mumbai Mirror, Ayesha Shroff producer of Kaif's debut film Boom accused Kaif of fabricating her history. She said "We created an identity for her. She was this pretty young English girl, and we gave her the Kashmiri father and thought of calling her Katrina Kazi. We thought we'd give her some kind of Indian ancestry, to connect with the audience But then we thought that Kazi sounded too religious We were to introduce her to the press and at that time, Mohammad Kaif was at the top, and so we said, Katrina Kaif sounds really great. Kaif responded by calling her comments "hurtful.
Kaif first expressed interest in a modelling career as a teenager, when she won a beauty contest in Hawaii, and subsequently received her first assignment as a model—a jewellery campaign. She began to model professionally in London, where she worked for various freelance agencies and featured regularly at the London Fashion Week. Her appearance at a fashion show attracted the attention of London-based filmmaker Kaizad Gustad, who selected Kaif for a role in the English / Hindi erotic heist film Boom, alongside an ensemble cast consisting of Amitabh Bachchan, Gulshan Grover, Jackie Shroff, Madhu Sapre and Padma Lakshmi. While shooting for the film in India, Kaif began receiving other offers, and decided to stay in the country. In 2003, she received recognition as a model after walking the ramp for Rohit Bal at the India Fashion Week at the show, fashion designer Manish Arora opined that "she is easily the most sensuous rampwalker today. have sex appeal too but Katrina is something else. Kaif also appeared in the first edition of the popular print campaign for the 2003 Kingfisher Calendar. She soon established a successful modelling career in India after endorsing prominent brands like Coca-Cola, LG, Fevicol and Samsung.
Kaif's successful modelling stint led to immense anticipation surrounding her Bollywood debut. Boom (2003) had its first screening at the Cannes Film Festival and was also heavily promoted at the event. However, ten days prior to the film's release, it was reported that pirated VCDs of the film's uncut version were being sold on the black market. Boom failed commercially as well as critically. Kaif's enactment of a supermodel ensnared in the Mumbai underworld was not well received, with Ziya U. Salam of The Hindu attributing the poor performances of the film's leading ladies to "the vacuity of their expressions. Post-release, Kaif was written off due to her poor Hindi and thick British accent. On its failure, Kaif dismissed the film, saying I don't count Boom among important happenings in my life. When I signed this film, I didn't know much about India and its film audience. I got to know later that the film had major flaws in terms of script and presentation.
Kaif was later offered a number of modelling assignments, though filmmakers were hesitant to cast her due to her poor command in Hindi; in one such incident, she was unceremoniously removed from the film Saaya. Subsequently, Kaif began working on her diction through Hindi classes.
After the failure of her first Bollywood venture, Kaif took on the Telugu film Malliswari (2004). Cast opposite Daggubati Venkatesh, the film saw Kaif play the titular role of a princess—heiress to INR7 billion (US$110 million) who is forced to flee from her murderous caretaker. For the film, she reportedly received INR7.5 million (US$120,000), the highest amount paid to an actress in the South industry at the time of release. Despite negative reviews for her acting, the film emerged as an economic success.
The following year, Kaif appeared briefly as Abhishek Bachchan's girlfriend in Ram Gopal Varma's political thriller Sarkar, and subsequently featured in her first major Hindi film role in David Dhawan's adaptation of the romantic comedy Cactus Flower entitled Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya, alongside Salman Khan, Sushmita Sen and Sohail Khan. The film was a profitable venture and for her role as a model with suicidal tendencies, Kaif received the Stardust Award for Breakthrough Performance Female. Sukanya Verma of reviewed "Katrina's Disney princess like charm adds to her adorable screen presence." She followed this with her second Telugu release Allari Pidugu where she played a small role alongside Balakrishna.
In 2006, she was paired opposite Akshay Kumar for the first time (the duo later appeared in numerous successful films together) in Raj Kanwar's Humko Deewana Kar Gaye, which was financially unsuccessful. The film tells the story of two like-minded strangers who fall in love despite being engaged to other people. A reviewer writing for Sify said that "Katrina is passably competent in a tailor-made role, giving a mild emotional spin to a couple of scenes" but added that she was overshadowed by the film's supporting actresses. Kaif also appeared alongside Mammootty in a Malayalam film—the crime thriller Balram vs. Tharadas—which was a profitable production. Rishi Raj Singh of The Hindu was impressed with Kaif's performance and published that she is "marvellous" in her role.
The year 2007 brought about a change in Kaif's acting career, when she appeared in four Hindi films, all of which were successful at the box office. In an interview with The Indian Express, Kaif opined that her starring role in Vipul Amrutlal Shah's romantic comedy Namastey London marked an important milestone, claiming that "for the first time, had a dominating role" and "got a good response from the industry. She used her experiences in London as a reference point for her role as a spoilt British Indian girl who is intent on marrying her self-centred British boyfriend despite her parents' disapproval. Critics were divided in the film itself, though Kaif's performance attracted favourable reviews. Sukanya Verma wrote that she "suits the role to the T" and "brings the zingy mix of her character alive with style and substance. Kaif's chemistry with lead actor Akshay Kumar also generated immense appreciation, with Nikhat Kazmi of The Times of India describing their pairing as refreshing.She next appeared in a supporting role for the Anil Sharma-directed melodramatic sports film Apne, that featured Dharmendra, Sunny Deol, Bobby Deol, Kirron Kher and Shilpa Shetty in prominent roles. After Apne, she reunited with director David Dhawan for the comedy Partner (an unofficial remake of Hitch), where she starred alongside Salman Khan, Govinda and Lara Dutta. With a worldwide revenue of INR1.03 billion (US$17 million), the film emerged a blockbuster. Kaif's final release of the year was Anees Bazmee's multistarrer comedy Welcome, in which she was cast alongside Akshay Kumar, Nana Patekar, Mallika Sherawat and Anil Kapoor. The film earned little praise from critics but became Kaif's second consecutive blockbuster, with worldwide earnings of INR1.16 billion (US$19 million). Despite these films performing well at the box office, Kaif's roles were noted to be similar by Shoma Chaudhury of Tehelka, who called her "unabashed eye-candy", and added that she was "a pretty prop in Welcome" and "more of the same in Partner and Apne."
The following year, Kaif collaborated with Saif Ali Khan, Akshaye Khanna, Bipasha Basu, Anil Kapoor and Sameera Reddy for Abbas-Mustan's action thriller Race. The film follows the story of two stepbrothers-turned-rivals who are in contention of their father's insurance payment. Kaif enacted the role of Ranveer's (played by Khan) double-crossing secretary and the lover of his stepbrother (played by Khanna). Race continued Kaif's slew of successes, though Nikhat Kazmi noted that "Katrina is too pale as the blousy secretary." She was more appreciative of the film, praising its "super cool look [and] testosterone-high action sequences. Kaif was next seen in Anees Bazmee's action comedy Singh Is Kinng, as Akshay Kumar's love interest and Ranvir Shorey's fiancee. With worldwide earnings of INR1.25 billion (US$21 million), the film was declared a super hit, making it Kaif's sixth consecutive success at the box office. Kaif earned mixed reviews for her performance; in a particularly critical review, Rajeev Masand of CNN IBN commented that "Katrina Kaif is an eyesore her acting so weak you want to urge her to watch everyone from Madhubala to Madhuri so she might pick up a few tricks.
Kaif's final release of 2008—the Subhash Ghai-directed drama Yuvvraaj—was a major failure at the box office. To prepare for her role as a cellist, Kaif practised playing the instrument alongside orchestra members. Her portrayal of a girl forbidden by her father from marrying her poor lover was well received by critic Sonia Chopra, who opined that "Katrina is wonderful, plays the cello convincingly, and looks ethereal. Despite the film receiving mixed reviews as a whole, its script was added to the library of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences due to its artistic merit.
During this period, Kaif's voice was often dubbed by dubbing artists such as Mona Ghosh Shetty, since she was inarticulate in Hindi and other Indian languages. While Kaif was a part of a string of successful movies at this stage, film critics observed that she had little to do as her films were generally male-centric. She also received mostly negative reviews for her acting prowess. On her series of glamorous roles, Kaif reflected that her "first few films were really a process of learning There was no target.
After a string of films in which she was cast merely for her glamour quotient, Kaif's role in the 2009 terrorism drama New York brought her recognition for her acting. The Kabir Khan-directed film narrated the story of three friends and how their lives are changed when one of them is wrongly detained after 9/11. Cast alongside John Abraham, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Irrfan Khan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Kaif portrayed the character of Maya, a college student who is later married to a terrorist. On her role, Kaif remarked that she identified with Maya as she felt similar isolation while growing up in London because of her skin colour. Kaif further opined that she had "played the arm candy in one too many films in the past" and was looking to work in more performance oriented films like New York. The film did well at the box office and received positive reviews. Critic Subhash K. Jha mentioned that Kaif "comes into her own as an actress of substance From the carefree effervescent campus girl to the anguished wife, Katrina makes the journey look plausible all the way." New York earned Kaif her first Filmfare nomination for Best Actress. She also appeared in a cameo for India's first underwater thriller Blue.
Rajkumar Santoshi's hit comedy Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani (2009) saw Kaif star opposite Ranbir Kapoor as an orphan who is forced to marry a rich man against her wishes. Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama commented that "Katrina Kaif continues to surprise She scores in both emotional and light scenes," adding that her chemistry with Kapoor is "electrifying. Her final release of the year was in Priyadarshan's multistarrer comedy De Dana Dan, alongside Akshay Kumar, Sunil Shetty, Paresh Rawal, Sameera Reddy and Neha Dhupia.