The Name Is Kaif. Katrina Kaif

So, who is the best actress in India today? Ask any director or producer in Bollywood and you are likely to get Kareena Kapoor or Priyanka Chopra as the answer, with Anushka Sharma being the new kid on the block everyone is excited about.

Wait. How about asking the audience – the people who pay for their movie tickets and hence shape the box office destiny of films? Over the last eight months, we have been tracking star popularity for male and female actors, through our product called Stars India Loves. Month after month, the results have re-affirmed that the answer to the question above is unequivocal – Katrina Kaif.

Katrina is one of the two most favorite actresses for 49% of 17,000 cine-goers interviewed over the last eight months. Next on the list are Aishwarya Rai with 24%, Kareena Kapoor with 18%, Kajol with 17% and Priyanka Chopra with 16%.

Contrast this to the now well-established no. 1 position of Salman Khan amongst the male stars. Salman leads with 42% audiences voting for him as one of their two most favorite male stars, followed by Shahrukh at 30%, Aamir at 23% and Akshay Kumar at 21%. Evidently, the gap between Katrina and her nearest competitor is more than double the gap between Salman and SRK. Such is the dominance of Katrina Kaif today!

We have shared this data with several producers and directors over the last few months. The response is a consistent: "You can't be serious! Katrina can't act!! "I've personally heard this line so often I'm now immune to the very sound of it.

But the young generation that frequents the theatres believes that what Katrina does is indeed "good acting." She has screen presence. She is a great looker and has immense confidence to back her looks. She chooses her roles carefully, and then delivers pitch perfect performances in them. Most importantly, she has a personality that connects with the upbeat mood of today's youth. She may not have a No One Killed Jessica or a Fashion to her credit yet, but her audiences are certainly not complaining.

Last year, in an exit poll conducted by us, Katrina's work was rated as the most liked performance in the multi-starrer Raajneeti, ahead of Ranbir Kapoor, Arjun Rampal, Ajay Devgan and everyone else. In Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara too, she manages to add value to an essentially male-dominated film, lighting up several sequences with her charming presence.

Why the film industry looks at Katrina's success with so much skepticism has often perplexed me. As far as the consumer is concerned, the 27-year old actress has already taken undisputed ownership of the crown that was forever changing hands for a decade. With several coveted films in the pipeline, including a smoking hot role in Mere Brother Ki Dulhan and an item number appearance in Bodyguard, her stronghold on the crown is only likely to increase.

So, let's welcome the new leader. She is here to stay. For a while.

Shailesh Kapoor is the Co-founder & CEO of Ormax Media, a media research firm specializing in film research

http://boxofficeindia.com/npages.php?page=shownews&articleid=3258&nCat=news

bond. james bond😆

btw congrats Kat👏