As Katrina Kaif completes 20 years as an actor and is enjoying the success of Tiger 3, she reflects on her journey from being a ‘total newcomer’ to someone who has found her ‘voice as an artiste’.

Katrina Kaif, in her twenty years as an actor, has evolved with every film and proved her worth. One of the most celebrated stars of Bollywood, Katrina, with her latest Tiger 3, has turned out as one of the most viable action stars in Bollywood.

In this interview with indianexpress.com, Katrina talks about her 20-year journey in cinema and how her profession has changed her from within, her equation with Salman Khan, her co-star in seven films over eighteen years.

Tiger 3 has turned out to be one of the biggest opening film in the careers of Katrina Kaif and Salman Khan and the actress can be happier. Talking about how the Diwali release is a wholesome product that is the result of Zoya and Tiger’s journey in the first two film in the series — Ek Tha Tiger (2012) and Tiger Zinda Hai (2017).

She says, “Tiger is such a loved franchise, and to be coming back on screen with Salman for Tiger 3 is truly a wonderful feeling that too at one of the most special times — Diwali, starting the new year.

The whole world of Tiger, with every film, we’ve able to take the story to a new place, made in into something more dynamic, there is much more action, it is a larger than life spectacle.

By now you also know the characters better, and you know what you are doing on set, you have lived this character before, you’ve lived this journey. Both me and Salman are really most excited when we come together with a Tiger film.”

Katrina and Salman have done seven films together over the period of eighteen years, a major chunk of her professional career as an actor. The actress describes Salman as someone who can still surprise her after all these years.

She says, “It’s been quite a few years we’ve been doing films together now. Over the years, it’s been really interesting, the way our dynamics and the equation has evolved. Right from the time when I first started doing films with him, being a complete newcomer and he was seasoned star already.

Then a few years later we came together for Ek Tha Tiger, I had experience of my own and I was finding myself as an actor, I was finding my voice as an artiste, he’s been there throughout.

For Tiger 3, there was this mutual understanding and ease, like we kind of just knew how to play off each other. But yet, at the same time, Salman can still just surprise you, just bring something so unexpected, that’s the unpredictability of him and that’s what keeps things exciting.”

Katrina then reminisces about her journey as an actor and how things have changed for her today. She says, “It’s been an incredible journey, the kind of people I got to work with… The directors I worked with gave so much to me as an artiste and as a person. I have been a part of such wonderful films that have been loved, stories that have been loved by the audience and those they have connected with. I have learnt a lot about myself.”

The actor believes her evolution as a person and an artiste is now translating into her work. She says, “Through these films and as we evolve as people, it is beautiful to see that expression in your work. The person you are and the person you want on the set as is different than what you were twenty years ago.

So that is going to translate on screen, your mindset, your state of mind, what you are, what are your views on life, how you are as a person inside, all that translates on the screen somewhere. As you evolve as a human, you continue to evolve in your work and that’s what my intention remains even today. I want to keep making choices that are true to who I am today and that honesty is going to translate on screen.”

Her avatar as an action star with Tiger franchise is close to her heart. “I’ve always wanted to do action. I’ve always been inspired by female action films. I have felt that there is a strong space for that in Hindi cinema and I’d love to create that and I think we’ve been able to do that to a large extent with Tiger and with Zoya’s action and her character.

The fact that she is viewed as a character and not just a glamorous piece in a movie, she is an integral part of the film. That gives us room because the audience has responded so well to the action and Zoya’s character doing that kind of action. I think it gives us the freedom to elaborate even more on it in the future perhaps.”