Bollywood's Katrina sees year of Khans and Rajnikanth

She was India's most Googled personality last year and looks set to hold that title well into 2012 — if the bang with which Katrina Kaif has begun 2012 is any indication.

The Hong Kong-born actress shed her formal image in favour of a gritty folk feel for Chikni Chameli, a song and dance routine in producer Karan Johar's Agneepath, which hits UAE cinemas today. Within a week of its upload, the song had been viewed 3.8 million times on YouTube. The video, which features Kaif dressed in the traditional garb of a fisherwoman, gyrating in the traditional laavni dance to the uptempo remake of the Marathi hit Kombdi Palali, had been watched more than eight million times by the middle of the month.

"I am really happy with the way the audience is responding to the song. Chikni Chameli was not my style, it was pretty difficult for me to fit into the character required for the song," Kaif tells GN Focus. "Karan [Johar] has been really supportive to me and of course, ‘masterji' [dance director Ganesh Acharya] has choreographed it so well. It's because of their efforts that I could do it."

The "item girl", as she is now referred to, ranks alongside Aishwarya Rai at the top of the Bollywood ladder, from where she reportedly demands Rs200 million (about Dh14.5 million) per film. The incident in question was reported in Indian media last October, when Kaif was approached to star in a remake of the 1983-film Himmatwala to re-launch film producer Vashu Bhagnani's son Jacky.

Kaif says she can't choose her favourite item song. "I don't know. Each song is different from the other," she says, adding as a rather politically correct afterthought, "but at the moment I'd like to pick Chikni Chameli, since it's the latest one and also since Karan [Johar] is a sweet friend and a lovely person."

2011 was a good year for the Raajneeti star, considering she had two big releases, and both turned out to be successful at the box office. Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara and Mere Brother Ki Dulhan were both declared hits, and the actress also earned her share of accolades. Not to forget her cameo and item number in Bodyguard, which is also one of the highest-grossing films of the year gone by.

This year looks set to be even better, with films opposite the three major Khans who rule Bollywood's roost. Ek Tha Tiger has her starring opposite Salman Khan, and she has just started shooting for Yash Raj Films' next with Shah Rukh Khan. The film is a love story and none other than the tsar of romance, Yash Chopra, makes his comeback as a director with this film. What's more, she has been signed for Dhoom 3 alongside Mr Perfectionist Aamir Khan. Ask her if she is fit enough to take on the challenge of the physically intensive Dhoom 3 and the actress says, "If a song or the film requires me to be fitter, then I shall go to the gym."

Things may just get even better. As we go to press, Kaif has been confirmed as the lead actress in South Indian superstar Rajinikanth's next film Kochadaiyaan. The film, to be released in both Tamil and Hindi, will be the directorial debut of Rajinikanth's younger daughter Soundarya. Word is Kaif's sizzling item numbers so impressed this icon of Indian cinema, widely regarded as a living legend and the second highest-paid actor in Asia after Jackie Chan, that he personally requested she be cast opposite him.

The roles, fees and soaring popularity ratings have not gone to Kaif's head. The actress credits her good fortune to her mentors, actor Akshay Kumar and ex-boyfriend Salman Khan.

"Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar are the two godfathers I have been lucky to have," she says. "They have been my guides and mentors in whatever I have achieved till date. Without them, I dread to think what I could have been. Perhaps a one-film wonder, now living in ambiguity. Salman has been a close friend for a long time. I still remember when I was upset about not getting work, never mind good or bad, he would sit next to me and say, ‘Don't worry. One day you will reach the top of the Bollywood horizon'. Look at me today — I am almost there. And it's a great feeling when people regard me as a top Bollywood actress." Now for the risky bit — her current equation with Salman. If rumours are to be believed, the chemistry she shares with her ex-boyfriend on the sets of Ek Tha Tiger is sizzling. We casually enquire about Salman's marriage plans, and come up short with a diplomatic reply. "Everyone should get married whenever they want to, it's a personal choice," she says.

Let's talk Kumar then.

"Another actor I owe my success to is Akshay Kumar," she says. In spite of being at the top of his career, Akshay took the risk of choosing me for his film. And since then, as they say, there has been no looking back. I still consider him my lucky charm."

Never short of brand endorsements, Kaif has recently signed on to promote a new range of air-conditioners. Perfect timing, we quip, since Chikni Chameli is sending temperatures soaring, both here in the Gulf and back in India. "Thank you very much, let's hope the sales go high after the song," she says, flashing that million-dollar smile, adding: "These ACs should have been on the sets of Chikni Chameli, it was extremely hot."  As is the song.

- Sanskriti Media Entertainment