Katrina Kaif reveals Malaika was her role model during early modelling days: She was one of the ‘women I looked up to’

In a new interview, Katrina Kaif said she wanted to be only a model when she moved to Mumbai, and Malaika Arora was one of her role models.

Katrina Kaif has claimed Malaika Arora was a “role model” during her early modelling days in Mumbai. In a new interview with Mashable India, Katrina looked back at her journey. She revealed that she only wanted to be a model when she moved to Mumbai and acting happened to her by accident. (Also Read: Merry Christmas trailer: Katrina Kaif, Vijay Sethupath-starrer is a Sriram Raghavan thriller set to a Christmas carol)

Katrina Kaif and Malaika Arora go a long way back

What Katrina said

“When I started off as a model in Bombay, my intention was to be a model. My role models were Madhu Sapre and Lakshmi Menon. Those were the supermodels of that time. And even Malaika actually. She was still modelling at that time. They were the women I looked up to. And that's what I wanted to be as a model,” Katrina said.

Katrina and Malaika go a long way back

While Katrina and Malaika have never worked together, they once had a peculiar connection. Katrina was dating her Tiger 3 co-star Salman Khan when his younger brother, actor and producer Arbaaz Khan, was married to Malaika. While Katrina later dated actor Ranbir Kapoor before marrying actor Vicky Kaushal in 2021, Malaika divorced Arbaaz in 2017 before she started dating actor Arjun Kapoor.

Malaika started off in 1997 as a VJ on MTV. She then entered the modelling world and appeared in Bally Sagoo's memorable 1997 music video of Gur Naalo Ishq Mitha. She made her Bollywood debut with the iconic dance song Chaiyya Chaiyya alongside Shah Rukh Khan in Mani Ratnam's 1998 romantic film Dil Se. Malaika went on to do dance songs in movies for the next 25 years, right up till Anirudh Iyer's An Action Hero last year, where she shook a leg with Ayushmann Khurrana on Aap Jaisa Koi. She was also seen in the Disney+ Hotstar reality series Moving in with Malaika last year. She'll be next seen in a special appearance in Arjun Varain Singh's buddy movie Kho Gaye Hum Kahan, releasing on Netflix India this Tuesday on December 26.

Katrina will be next seen in Sriram Raghavan's Merry Christmas.