The box office scenario of 'Mere Brother ki Dulhan' is still ambiguous and it's very early to speculate anything about Katrina Kaif's position on the number podium. However, Katrina was and will remain one of the top heroines of the tinsel town, at least for another couple of years.
MBKD shows Katrina as a bidi-smoking damsel who can cause distress. She seems to be undergoing a conscious image change from her porcelain doll avatar in earlier films.
More or less, Katrina has played an arm candy till now. 'Boom' is better forgotten; in fact Katrina should be awarded for not denying doing 'Boom'.
The role of the suave Pooja in 'Sarkar' did not have much meat, and people noticed Katrina in the film only because she was a famous model.
'Maine Pyar Kyun Kiya' featured Salman Khan and Sushmita Sen primarily, but Katrina was there to dance. Her vacant expression was reminiscent of an actor who has forgotten her cue.
Surprisingly, she started to make her own fan base right after this film. Kaif's link-ups with Salman fetched her more attention than her entire PR team's effort.
'Namstey London' followed 'Humko Deewana Kar Gaye' and Kaif arrived in Bollywood in the true sense.
For the first time, she was in the running for the number one slot after 'Namastey London'.
Aishwarya Rai had 'Guru', while Kareena Kapoor was seen in her career defining role of Geet in 'Jab We Met', in the very same year. Katrina was nowhere close to the stature of these two heroines, neither in acting, nor in star quotient.
Then came 'Apne', 'Partner', 'Race', 'Welcome' and 'Singh is Kinng'.
Five back-to-back hits and every producer was outside her gate.
None of these films, except 'Partner' had given her the chance to emerge as a thinking actor.
She tried her best to look 'emotional' in the climax of 'Partner', but Rai and Kapoor, had
already proved their mettle in thinking roles.
Aishwarya had 'Devdas', 'Chokher Bali', 'Bride and Prejudice', 'Raincoat', 'Sarkar Raj' and 'Jodhaa Akbar' to her credit while Kareena had 'Asoka', 'Chameli', 'Dev', 'Aitraaz', 'Fida' and 'Omkara'.
But another competitor had entered the race of number one in 2008 - Priyanka Chopra. She was glamorous, good dancer and as capable as an actor as Rai.
Initially, she did not experiment much with roles and that gave her a chance to consolidate her fan base.
'Fashion' and 'Kaminey' provided Chopra the long anticipated recognition as a heroine with wide mass appeal, who can act well too. Her position gradually got strengthened. She developed into a typical Bollywood beauty with good acting skills.
The audiences were always waiting for someone as Priyanka, and critics had become bored of reviewing useless beauties. Priyanka satisfied them all.
Kareena kept doing happy go lucky characters, and thus the value of one hit film gained ascendance, because only hit film can make you better than other heroines, who are also portraying the same kind of roles.
Then, the situation became trickier, because Katrina delivered three commercially successful films out of her next seven releases.
'New York', 'Ajab Prem ki Ghazab Kahani' and 'Rajneeti' brought Katrina also to the forefront.
With one Hollywood movie, 'The Pink Panther', and several Bollywood flops, Aishwarya seemed more interested in award ceremonies and her family. She was still one of the highest paid heroines but her charm started to fade down considerably post 'Raavan'.
Kareena tasted success in '3 Idiots' and 'Golmaal' series, where she had prominent roles.
Kareena already had a good fan base and thus the showcase of refined acting made her a very good challenger for the top spot.
Till the end of 2010, the race for the quintessentially accepted heroine for all was tilted more or less in favour of Kareena Kapoor, despite the success of 'Rajneeti', where Katrina donned the cap of a thinking actor for the first time. This political potboiler presented Katrina in a powerful role, and she satisfactorily passed off as a performer.
'Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara' showed Katrina in an entirely different light. She played an adventure loving girl in 'ZNMD', who is specifically clear about the goals of life.
It was not an unlikely role but it came as a pleasant surprise. Katrina was finally trying to evolve as a potential thinking actor.
But, the track was still not clear for a race between Katrina and Kareeena. '7 Khoon Maaf' got the rabbit out of the cap, and Priyanka magic swelled over the mass.
A fantastic performance in '7 Khoon Maaf' placed her above everyone, as far as the acting was concerned.
Now, Kareena can boast of 'Bodyguard', which has received the highest opening of all times, but the real force behind the film is not a hidden fact.
We can narrow down the race of becoming the next lady superstar to three ladies in the shape of Kareena, Priyanka and Katrina, but in reality, the battle is in between just two, Kareena and Priyanka.
Katrina might be riding on a string of successful films but she has not proved her worth as a good actor yet.
Ideally, one superstar should possess brilliant acting skills with devastating looks and courage for experimentation. Remember Hema Malini, Sridevi and Madhuri Dixit.
Katrina's spotless features can earn her big films, but she will become the super star that the Hindi film audiences are looking for, only when she will come up with rare roles or fine performances to make a role rare.
Kareena Kapoor has 'Ra.One', a potential hit, in kitty but she also has not shown the guts to experiment with every film. Basically, she is conscious about her position at the box office, which will eventually stop her from taking the leap of faith towards superstardom.
Therefore, Priyanka Chopra remains as the real scion of the reigning queen's post, however, her ascendance to the throne will depend a lot on the comparative performances of her films against Kareena's and Katrina's.
