The Kareena-Katrina war

Until recently, Kareena Kapoor was the unchallenged queen of B-Town at least, as far as her price was concerned. She commanded six crore per film and signed multiple film deals with major production houses.

She snapped up all the big endorsements and there was no competition for miles around.
But now to Kapoor’s dismay, a relative newbie, Katrina Kaif, is competing with her at every turn: with the price, the number of film, as well as endorsements.

Says a source close to Kareena, “She feels that Katrina is deliberately matching her steps. Because it can’t be a coincidence so often. Every time Bebo signs a film for an ‘X’ number of crores, the following day there is an announcement of Katrina having done the same.

The day after Bebo signed a TV18 deal worth Rs 3 crore, reports of Kat having signed two films with the same production house for Rs 6 crore surfaced. The fact remains that Kareena is the only actress who has actually signed a deal with TV18.”

Wherever you go...
When it was reported that Kareena was negotiating a six-crore film deal with Ashtavinayak, stories of Katrina having lapped up a two-film deal with Reliance for 12 crore started doing the rounds.” There’s more. “Every time Kareena signs endorsements the Race girl follows closely behind.

Last month, there were reports of Sallu’s girl doing an item song in Ashtavinayak’s Blue for 1.5 crore. A Kapoor insider called us and laughed, “Oh please, Kat was paid only 75 lakhs!” Interestingly, both Kat and Bebo share the same brand manager, Matrix.

An industry analyst says (on the condition of anonymity), “Kareena is an established and successful star who has both critical and commercial acclaim to her name. She has been in the industry for more than five years and has done films like Chameli and Omkara.

Katrina has had four hits last year but none of them have been based around her. There’s no question of comparison as Kareena is a big star today who commands film deals and endorsements on her terms.

Trade people acknowledge her as a force to reckon with in terms of glamour, looks and powerhouse performances. Katrina has only been doing candyfloss glam roles till now. Though Katrina garnered acclaim for her pretty looks in Race there still is no room for comparison.”

The last straw
According to a friend of Kareena’s the actress found these comparisons amusing earlier but now, they irritate her, “The last straw was when stories on both Kareena’s and Katrina’s new homes appeared at the same time. A day after news of Bebo and shifting into her new flat in Khar in Rose Queen apartments became public, it was “announced” that Salman Khan had gifted Katrina a flat in Khar.

Kareena has kept quiet till now as whenever she has met Kat, she has been cordial and friendly. Maybe it’s Katrina’s over-efficient PR at work but for the moment, Bebo is keeping control over her fiery self. She’s very fond of Salman and the Khan family and doesn’t want to say anything that will hurt them.

She’s also acting in Salman and Sohail’s home production Main Aur Mrs Khanna so for the moment she’s keeping quiet and waiting for Katrina’s next move. She will talk when the moment is right.”
Both Kareena and Katrina remained unavailable for comment.

Kareena’s films
Karan Johar’s next production,
Sohail Khan’s Main Aur Mrs Khanna,
Sajid Nadiadwala’s Kambakht Ishq with Akshay Kumar,
Sajid Nadiadwala’s next with Saif and Ranbir,
Golmaal Returns,
A film with TV18,
Raj Kumar Hirani’s next,
Yash Raj Films’ Tashan

Katrina’s films
Vipul Shah’s Singh Is Kinng,
Subhash Ghai’s Yuvraaj,
2 films with TV18,
A Yash Raj film with John Abraham,
Raj Kumar Santoshi’s next with Ranbir Kapoor,
Ashtavinayak’s Blue with Akshay Kumar

Upala KBR, Mid-Day