'I didn't know anyone except for Amitji'

For Katrina, who was born in Hong Kong, raised in Hawaii and London, the Indian film industry never really existed until she got here.
"I didn't know anyone except for Amitji [Amitabh Bachchan]. He had a statue at Madame Tussauds. If someone was introduced to me as very successful, I gave them the appropriate respect," says Katrina, who watched her first Hindi film at the age of 19.
It was her urge to embrace the work ethics of a film industry in a distant country that made filmmakers take notice of her. She made a forgettable debut in 2003 with Kaizad Gustad's Boom; the movie tanked at the box office, but people wanted to see more of the leggy lass. Jackie Shroff, her first co-star (in Boom), knew that she was destined to be a popular star.
"On the first day of the shoot, she was lost and lonely. But once we started shooting she was all ears to the director. During the schedule, I realised that she was disciplined and focused," he says.
On the other hand, Katrina was overwhelmed by the warmth of her co-stars, who looked after her. "I was so shocked by the warmth of the city and the people," says Katrina, who found friends in supermodel Madhu Sapre and designer and stylist Anna Singh on the sets of the film.
Anna says, "I guided her as much as I could. On the sets of Boom, I used to feed her and make her familiar with names of actors and directors. By the end of the film, she had put on a good three to four kilos."
Realising that Indo-English films like Boom only catered to a niche audience, she started taking interest in mainstream Hindi films. She started learning Hindi with the help of a tutor.
"I first learnt how to read the language and once I got a grasp of it, I could read scripts in Hindi. It took me about two-and-a-half years to improve on the reading," says the actress, who can comfortably communicate with her staff in Hindi.