Katrina Kaif reveals that she was dying to play Anushka Sharma’s part in Zero: “My audition for the role of Afiya moved Aanand L Rai; Shah Rukh Khan advised that I should trust him”

/00:00 00:00

Listen to this story

By Fenil Seta -

March 2, 2024 - 4:55 PM IST

Katrina Kaif completed 20 years last year as a film actor. Ever since, she has emerged as one of the top actresses in the industry, despite the challenges she faced initially as a foreigner. She gave several memorable performances and one that stands out is her act in Zero (2018). It starred Shah Rukh Khan and Anushka Sharma in leading roles and Katrina managed to stand out in the role of film actor Babita Kumari. In an in-depth interview with Mayank Shekhar of Mid-Day, Katrina Kaif shared interesting trivia about this Ananad L Rai-directorial.

Katrina Kaif reveals that she was dying to play Anushka Sharma’s part in Zero: “My audition for the role of Afiya moved Aanand L Rai; Shah Rukh Khan advised that I should trust him”

Initially, Zero was titled Katrina Meri Jaan and the actor was supposed to play a double role. On this, Katrina Kaif clarified, “That was a different script. It changed thereafter.” She then revealed that she got drawn to the character of Afiya, who is suffering from cerebral palsy. Katrina added, “When Anand Sir was narrating this [new script to play Babita Kumari], my ears and eyes kept perking up to the other female role [of Afiya].”

Katrina Kaif expressed the desire to play Afiya but Aanand L Rai confessed that he had someone else for the part. It’s not clear if he mentioned Anushka Sharma’s name to Katrina. Nevertheless, Katrina decided to try her luck.

She stated, “I went home that day and recorded an audition tape on my iPhone for the part. I went back and showed him the recording on my laptop. It really moved him. That gave me hope, and we kept circling on it for days.”

She also said that even though Babita was also a strong part, she was still hell-bent on essaying Afiya, “I was so attached to the part [eventually played by Anushka Sharma] that I couldn’t even care if there was anything good in what was being offered to me.”

Finally, lead actor and producer Shah Rukh Khan convinced her to go for Babita, “It was Shah Rukh who said I was getting too emotionally attached, and that I should trust him, and do the film. That’s how I got a chance to do [Babita].”

The decision paid off. Katrina Kaif’s role in Zero was praised by all sections of moviegoers, “It’s one of the best roles I’ve ever done.”

Also Read: Katrina Kaif reveals the difference between Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar: “Salman is always thinking of the larger story of a film, rather than the scene at hand alone. With Akshay, there’s a lot more improvisation”