Sachin Kadvekar/Fotocorp

Katrina Kaif is the queen of all she surveys. She has raced up the superstar ladder, overtaking many other beauteous ladies on the way, and now she’s the numero uno in the heroine stakes.

But the glamorous star isn’t taking anything for granted and says it’s time for a change of gear.

It’s not tough to understand why she has become Bollywood’s hottest property. Her fabulous looks have been matched by a string of six superhits — Namastey London, Apne, Partner and Welcome in 2007 and Race and Singh is Kinng this year.

But now she wants to move up to the next level and prove that there’s more to her than just stunning looks.

“For the last three years, I consciously chose films which the janta in small towns would see. Now in 2009, I’m getting an opportunity to do commercial films that are slightly different. I think the audience will be surprised to see me in these roles,” says Kaif, who recently signed a two-movie deal with top studio UTV.

Kaif just appeared on screen in Subhash Ghai’s Yuvvraaj in a screen role that was almost uncomfortably close to real life — as Salman Khan’s romantic interest. It was yet another glam doll role but she says she chose it for one reason alone — she wanted to work with Ghai.

“As an outsider, there are a few filmmakers who people look up to. And Subhash Ghai’s presentation of his heroines has always been talked about,” explains the half-British, half- Indian Kaif, who first moved to India at 17.

Katrina Kaif with Vijay Mallya at an Indian Premier League match. Kaif was the brand ambassador for Mallya’s Bangalore Royal Challengers; (Below) Kaif performs at the Temptation Reloaded 2008 show in Dubai in October

Undoubtedly, the spotlight was more intense because Khan and she were sharing the screen together. So is it more difficult to act opposite your real-life partner? “It’s not more difficult. There’s just the initial awkwardness whenever you’re doing a romantic film with any person because you’re being intimate on set with 300 people around. But the magic comes across if the script is strong or sometimes there’s just magic between two people,” says Kaif, whose screen chemistry with Akshay Kumar has resulted in many hits.

She has done two films with Khan before this — Partner, in which she was paired with Govinda, and Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya? in 2005. “He’s a great actor. I’ve done two films with him, which have been appreciated. I think it’s like doing any other film — the script has to work and everything else is secondary,” says Kaif.

However, Yuvvraaj’s script seems to have let it down. The film has reported poor box office collections in the opening weekend.

Nevertheless, Kaif is eager to move on and script a bigger career path for herself. Her schedule is packed for two years. She has four films in 2009 with four very different directors.

There’s a thriller with Kabir Khan for Yashraj Films, where she stars opposite John Abraham. Then, there’s Rajkumar Santoshi’s Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani, a romantic comedy with Ranbir Kapoor.

She’s also doing Prakash Jha’s next film, Rajneeti, a political thriller-cum-modern-take on The Mahabharata.

“All three roles are as different as night and day and that’s the beauty of it,” says Kaif enthusiastically.

She’s not giving up entirely on the commercial potboilers either. So there’s Priyadarshan’s De Dhana Dhan, where she’s back on screen with Akshay Kumar.

(From top) Kaif in Namastey London; Partner and Yuvvraaj

And as part of a two-film deal with Studio 18, she’s doing a film with Abbas-Mastan, who made the hit Race this year.

Kaif also has a two-film deal with UTV, reportedly for Rs 7.5 crore though neither she nor the studio will comment on the numbers.

Ram Mirchandani, chief operating officer, UTV Rampage Motion Pictures, says he signed up Kaif because she’s “a versatile actress”. “Plus, she has a very loyal audience. A lot of people in the 14 to 32 age group go to see a Katrina Kaif film. And she’s also an accomplished hit giver,” he says.

What’s more, Mirchandani believes Kaif has a huge fan base in small towns like Hissar, Gaya and Bareilly too. “She has this endearing quality, which has won her fans in the metros and mini-metros,” he adds.

Reshma Shetty, director, Matrix India Entertainment, which has managed Kaif’s brand endorsements from the beginning, says that Kaif’s brand appeal — she endorses around 10 brands — is equally universal too. “Katrina can sell anything,” says Shetty.

She recently signed on with a niche brand like Nakshatra diamonds, replacing Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. “Yet she also fits a mass brand like Spice Telecom,” says Shetty.

Kaif reportedly gets paid between Rs 1.5 crore to Rs 1.75 crore per endorsement.

The actress attributes her success to “destiny” and “hard work”. “It’s more than I could have asked for,” she says.

But at the same time, she says, “I try and not get too affected by it because then you lose your focus on your long-term goal. And I just want to try and explore myself as a performer and keep pushing my limits.”

She’s aware that most people attribute her success to her looks rather than her acting. But she says: “That’s fine. It was a conscious decision to choose those kinds of films — you know comedy and glamorous roles — which have a wider reach.”

Everyone who has known Kaif agrees that she’s driven by a desire to succeed to support her family and that ensures that she isn’t about to slow down.

Indeed, Kaif’s day usually starts at 7am and she’s on the sets till 11pm each night. Vipul Shah, who directed her in Namastey London, (the film in which her acting was first noticed) and who produced Singh is Kinng, says: “She’s extremely passionate about her work and she wants to improve all the time.”

So she has worked hard on her Hindi. “She now reads the Hindi script better than many actors born in India,” says Shah.

She’s extremely professional too. “For Singh is Kinng, our reporting time on set was 5am, but she was never late even once,” says Shah. She’s “casual on set”, reveals Shah. “If you crack a joke about her, she won’t sulk,” he says.

Kaif in Sarkar; (Below) With Akshay Kumar in Singh is Kinng

Kaif grew up in a large family. She has six sisters, three older and three younger — “I’m bang in the middle,” she says — and one brother. Her mother, who runs a home for abandoned babies in Madurai, was a lawyer who gave up a legal career to work with charitable organisations — her father is a Kashmiri but her parents separated when she was little.

So Kaif, who was born in Hong Kong, and her siblings travelled around the world with their mother. “It was a wonderful experience. It taught me how to adjust to people and how to be non-judgmental,” says Kaif.

She admits she feels deeply responsible towards her family. “I think a lot of the times I do make decisions for financial reasons because I feel I don’t want to throw away any opportu-nity,” she says.

Kaif’s break in Hindi films came when director Kaizad Gustaad spotted her in London — she began modelling there at 15 — and cast her in Boom. She moved to India to shoot the film. Boom, which released in 2003, bombed but Kaif stayed on.

Shetty recalls meeting Kaif on her second or third day in India. “She was dressed in jeans and T-shirt without any make-up and with her hair tied back. I don’t think anyone who has met her hasn’t been struck by her beauty,” she says.

Even now, Shetty says, “She has access to the biggest brands but she has no problems wearing a track pant and T-shirt and dining out. And she’s just not interested in what’s happening in other people’s lives either.”

Back then, Shetty had no hesitation in signing up Kaif as a Matrix model. “She was one of the few versatile faces who could walk the ramp and do product endorsements,” she recalls.

Even as the big modelling break came when she became the face of Lakme, Kaif continued to try her hand at films. She did a couple of South Indian films. In 2005, she also got noticed for a bit role in Sarkar. But her career zoomed after Namastey London in 2007.

Now, producers like UTV’s Mirchandani believe that Kaif “has it in her to move to the next level”. “Now that Katrina is part of the family, our scripts will be dovetailed for her. We’re looking at roles that can challenge her acting limits,” he says. That may even include a “woman-oriented” film.

Shah too believes that Kaif has matured as an actor. Although her role in Singh is Kinng “was never going to be a milestone part”, Shah was still impressed with her performance in the few emotional scenes she had. “I think she can do emotional sequences now,” he says.

Kaif’s also doing more stage shows now like Shah Rukh Khan’s recent Temptation tour. Says Shetty, “I think that’s when you have a complete actor, when you can go on stage and dance and perform.”

Shetty believes that Kaif “has age and time on her side”. “Katrina has a long way to go,” she says. Certainly, Kaif would agree.