Katrina Kaif - actress or superstar?

Katrina Kaif is definitely one of the top 3 Actresses of this generation. But can we really call her an Actress? She is talked about more for her gorgeous looks and less about her acting chops, Still she manages to bag biggest of films in her kitty and has huge pay checks to accompany her to her home. A certain Mr. Khan did help her and his constant support helped her make way to the A List Bracket. Her run at the Box Office has been envious as most of her films are huge hits, though crediting her with the successes of these films is a debatable question.

She constantly tops most desirable/ Sexist Woman Alive, etc. lists. But one hardly gets to see her name in the Best Actress List.

But one has to applaud her for taking the bold step of shifting her base from London to India. She went on to do some modeling assignments and then made her Bollywood debut with the film ‘Boom’ which bombed at the box office.

She is definitely Hardworking, which is pretty evident from the fact that she took up an entirely different language and learnt it right from the scratch. Also, all the directors who have worked with her keep raving about her, being a sincere actor. But somehow that does not come across in her body of work. She is definitely improving but is that enough to survive in this industry where her contemporaries are taking up difficult roles and displaying their versatility.

A List of few of her Performances:

1. Maine Pyar Kyun Kiya: As Salman’s girlfriend, all she needed was to look good in glamorous outfits.

2. Partner: Again a role which didn’t offer her anything in terms of acting. She just looked pretty as Govinda’s love interest while Lara Dutta impressed everyone with her comic timing.

3.Namastey London: Katrina was apt for the role of Jazz and she was adorable in the movie. Her poor linguistic skills for once worked in her favor as she was playing the role a London based girl. The film was a huge hit, making Katrina the darling of the masses.

4.Humko Deewana Kar Gaye, Singh is King, Welcome, De Dana Dan, and Tees Maar Khan: One of the best onscreen pair – Katrina and Akshay has delivered huge hits in the past. But yet again, she was just there to play his love interest and to add the typical Bollywood Masala. Somehow, it seems that they have lost their charm as their last two outings at the BO turned out to be duds (Read, De Dana Dan and Tees Maar Khan).

5. New York: My Personal favorite, Katrina was really good in the film. Her performance showed a different side of hers as she was playing a college girl and then a mother whose husband is mistaken for a terrorist. This is the Katrina we want to see often on the big screen.

6. Race: Katrina played a negative character in this Abbas Mustan thriller and put the screen on fire with her killer looks and sexy dance moves.

7. Ajab Prem ki Gazab Kahaani: A huge hit, with a good role but again Katrina’s acting was a bit of a downer.

8. Rajneeti: Don’t know why people think Katrina was great in this movie, with some of them saying that she actually deserved a National Award for the film. Really? She had just a 15 minute role in this ensemble film. And again she stood out just because she was playing character based on Sonia Gandhi and her accent worked in her favor.

I feel Katrina is in such a position where she has a certain amount of power and a large fan base and she should exploit this to her advantage and ask her Director and Actor friends to get her challenging and plump roles.

The questions here are:

Does Katrina really deserve all the success? And why?
Is Indian Audience so obsessed with good looks that they can overlook her mediocre acting skills and still can’t get enough of her on screen?