When Katrina Kaif felt career was ‘over’ after watching Namastey London: ‘I am packing my bags’

Katrina Kaif, after making a forgettable debut with Boom in 2003, gained recognition with Namastey London. But did you know that when she first watched the film, she thought it would be a ‘disaster’ and even considered finding an alternate profession because she thought her acting career was ‘over’?

As Katrina Kaif turns 38 on Friday, here is looking back at her first-ever appearance on Koffee With Karan, during which she talked about feeling ‘terrified’ after watching Namastey London. However, when the film emerges a success, she breathed a sigh of relief.

On Koffee With Karan, Katrina said about Namastey London, “When I saw the film, I was terrified. Vipul (Amrutlal Shah, director) showed it to me and said, ‘What do you think?’ I didn’t call him back. You know, when a director shows the actress a film, you have to give him feedback. I took off home, shut the door and didn’t give him a call.” She got a call from his assistant, saying that he was ‘really upset’ that she did not give her feedback.

“I called him and I said, ‘Hi Vipul.’ He asked, ‘What do you think?’ I said, ‘Nice, very nice film. Okay, bye’,” Katrina said. However, she felt, at the time, that the film would end her career. “I just saw too much of me in the film and you start believing what people say. I was like, ‘No, no, no, people can’t see me in a film, they won’t watch the film, it’s a disaster. This is over, my life is over.’”

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Katrina said that she was ‘not used’ to seeing ‘too much of’ her in a film. “I was like, ‘I am packing my bags and I am going to find a new career’,” she said. However, she got a ‘shock’ when the film was a critical and commercial success. “That was really nice, it was really important for me because I think it did change people’s perception. It was the first time I got so many calls even from the industry, from directors saying, ‘I think you did pretty well in the movie’,” she said.

After Namastey London, Katrina cemented her stardom with films such as Welcome, Ajab Prem Ki Gazab Kahani, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, Ek Tha Tiger, Dhoom 3 and Bang Bang. She will be seen next in Sooryavanshi, in which she will reunite with her Namastey London co-star Akshay Kumar after a decade. She also has Phone Bhoot with Siddhant Chaturvedi and Ishaan Khatter in the pipeline.