Katrina Kaif at India Today Youth Summit 2010

Hard work and professionalism are the keys to success: Katrina Kaif

Known as Lady Luck and Lady Charm, Bollywood's 'Lucky Mascot' Katrina Kaif spoke about the importance of hard work and professionalism in her life as important lessons for the youth at the India Today Youth Summit held in New Delhi.

Katrina's success mantras Professionalism and hard work. Keep your personal feelings aside. Deliver whatever is required of you, else you will let people down. Give your work your 100 per cent. Try and find something new every time. If you feel there is nothing new to give, bow out. Be honest to the chances you've been given.

Once panned for her poor dancing, Kaif's moves are much copied in Indian cinemas today. Once slammed for her poor command of Hindi, Kaif dubs her lines herself, far better than what Penelope Cruz does in English.

Kaif came to India on a whim but felt so welcome and comfortable in the country that she decided to stay on and make it her home. "I feel a sense of being loved and accepted here."

Sharing her experiences with a very enthusiastic young audience, Kaif says her life wasn't a bed of roses. When she started out as a model, she would often face rejections and never won any beauty contests. She would get called for ads and Hindi film auditions and then would get rejected, often for her curves.

"When you experience these things, you often wonder if the industry isn't right for you", she says. The svelte actress, however, did not give up. "I kept on trying and today I have achieved far more than I could dream of."

However, you cannot really rest on your laurels. "The day you sit back and relax and say I have achieved what I wanted, someone else will take over and surpass you," she says.

What has kept Kaif going is her passion for her work and her focus. "I think of one thing that I can achieve from each film I do and as long as I can find something new to show the audience, I do it." In an environment as challenging and demanding as the film industry, she does not let peer pressure get to her. According to her, "Pressure is really public pressure. My audience is my priority and what they think is really what will keep me up at night."

A role she really identifies with is her role in Rajneeti, where despite very few dialogues, she could identify with way her character handled her life. "I did the role not because it supposedly portrayed the life of Soniaji, but because there were certain personality traits with which I could identify." She adds, "I worked hard and it's been appreciated."

I agree. I've seen Kat look better. She doesn't look striking here.