It’s been over two decades since Katrina Kaif has begun her career (with the 2003 Boom). To stay relevant for 21 years (and counting) in Hindi cinema is not given to many. But over this long period, the actress has continually proved her mettle by showing that she is much more than the archetypal pretty face and glamour doll that Katrina got to play in some of her early films. She has always worked hard on her roles as well as accent and proved her acting chops in many a film, and among her finest work, Raajneeti, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, Jagga Jasoos and the three films in the Tiger franchise stand out.
In fact, Katrina holds a record by acting in an entire franchise—because in Hindi cinema, heroines can change while the hero remains the same even in true sequels over more than two movies! But Zoya remained an increasingly effective constant through Ek Tha Tiger, Tiger Zinda Hai and Tiger 3.
Now, another director of rare mettle—Sriram Raghavan—has chosen Katrina for the nuanced and central character of Maria in his latest thriller, Merry Christmas. When I asked how she felt the experience of working in a Sriram Ragahvan movie was different from that of playing her past characters, the actress replied, “After Zoya, who according to me is one of the strongest characters I have ever had the chance to play, Maria also had its own charm. Obviously, the world of Zoya was a different world.”
She adds, “But the world of Maria is also one of a kind. It has a different tone, different language, different pace and different rhythm. It is Sriram-sir’s world and you have to come in with an open mind. I had discussed this film and role with Sriram-sir for a year and a half before we went on sets. When he had given me the initial 20-minute narration that he usually gives all his actors, the first thing he asked me to do was think of a back story of who this woman was!”
Elaborating further, Katrina says, “He asked me to think of where was she before the story happened? What drove her to become the way she is? What does she feel? What has happened in her life? And I think this process was extremely helpful. I think I worked very hard and we did a lot of workshops before coming on sets with different people, including Sriram-sir.”
Katrina enjoyed this process because, as she put it, “It’s not all the time that you get to work with your co-actor and rehearse scenes over a few days before the shoot. It was very fulfilling experience for me and after such a level of prep, I hope everything has come out in the way I wanted it to, and the manner Sriram-sir had envisioned it!”
More Pages: Merry Christmas Box Office Collection , Merry Christmas Movie Review
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