Katrina: I'll Never Train this Hard for a Film Again

It's been a little more than four months since Katrina Kaif wrapped up the shoot for Dhoom 3 and she's been avoiding her trainer Yasmin Karachiwala ever since. "For over a year, I trained intensely with Yasmin. We used to do two to three hours of functional training, as well as push-ups and pull-ups every single day. Though I don't have any action sequences in the film, the songs required me to be physically very strong. Whether I was sick, travelling or working 18 hours a day, I didn't let up on the training at all. And now just the thought of replying to Yasmin's text messages makes me feel tired," says Katrina, with an impish smile plastered on her face.

When she wasn't hitting the gym, Katrina would be doing acrobatic training her character is seen doing in the film. "I don't think I have ever trained this hard for a film or will ever in my life again." After months of training, when Katrina got to the sets to shoot, she realised it wasn't easy. "In the Malang song, Aamir and I had to perform on the hoop, like the ones you see in a circus. So both Aamir and I trained individually before the shoot. And we didn't use harnesses. The hoop was small for a big person like me and it left bruises all over my legs. They were the size of my palm! On the day of the shoot, Aamir and I both got on the hoop and they lifted the hoop 30-40 ft above the ground. We were supposed to bend backwards. It was then I realised that if we didn't hold each other correctly, we could die or be paralysed forever. It was scary."

Interestingly, this wasn't the scariest moment for Katrina on the Dhoom 3 sets. "There's a song sequence where Aamir is sitting on a chair and I'm dancing around him and doing everything I possibly can to impress him. And there comes this point where I'm supposed to put my leg on his shoulder. It didn't seem right to put my foot on Aamir Khan's shoulder! So, obviously I was nervous. During practice I thought Aamir will be saying something to calm me down. Something like don't worry, do what you have to do'. Instead, he said please be careful. I have a shoulder injury. Put down your leg gently on my shoulder'. That stressed me out even more. Thankfully that shot went off okay."

This was Katrina's first film with Aamir and the actress can't stop raving about Mr Perfectionist. "I'll be honest, I was nervous about working with him. One's heard so much about his working style, so I had the whole picture in my head. But Aamir is so chilled out. He is easy and spontaneous on the sets. I think we had a lot of fun together."

Like her contemporary Kareena Kapoor, Katrina is one of the rare Bollywood actresses who has worked with all three Khans"Salman, Shah Rukh and Salman. So, who was she the most comfortable working with? "I would have to say Salman. He's seen me right from the beginning; so I wasn't conscious or worried about messing up a line. I have known him for so long that I know he won't judge me. Something about Shah Rukh made me nervous... I don't know why. When we weren't shooting, everything was fine. We'd be chatting and having fun, but as soon as Yashji (Chopra) would say action', I'd freeze."

While professionally 2013 has been a fairly quiet year for Katrina (her only release was Bombay Talkies where she did a cameo playing herself), personally a lot has happened this year. Photographs of Katrina holidaying in Ibiza, Spain, with rumoured beau Ranbir Kapoor surfaced a few months ago. The photographs were splashed across the print and Internet. Upset with her privacy being disrespected, Katrina shot off an angry letter to the media expressing how hurt she was.

Looking back at the incident she says, "I did feel hurt. People around me tried explaining how as an actor you just have to accept these kind of invasions and move on, but I couldn't. I have been around for nine years in this industry and something like this had never happened to me before. Now I have moved on."

http://newindianexpress.com/entertainment/hindi/Katrina-I'll-Never-Train-this-Hard-for-a-Film-Again/2013/12/06/article1930090.ece