And she's done it again. For the fourth time in a row, Katrina Kaif has been voted the world's sexiest woman. Kat topped the list in a poll conducted by FHM India magazine, leaving worthy contenders from both Bollywood and Hollywood biting the dust.
Effortlessly quashing beauties from home (Deepika Padukone, Priyanka Chopra, Anushka Sharma) and beyond (Megan Fox, Angelina Jolie, Blake Lively), the British-Indian star curiously commented that her win means people did not vote based solely on physical looks.
Really? I'd love to know what else the readers of FHM take into account when voting for such a poll.
Equally intriguingly, she states that, to her, "being sexy is not about clothes".
"For me, to wear a cotton sari without any make-up and still be desirable is sexy," she told reporters.
Erm, yes. Because that's how we see her all the time: barefaced and in a simple sari.
To be honest, I really don't see what all the fuss is about. To me, she looks more cute than sexy. Sexy is Priyanka Chopra. And far ahead in the cute stakes is Deepika Padukone. But apparently, I am in the minority. There are only a bazillion people who hold the opposing view: that Kat is the hottest woman today. Fourth time in a row.
Even I must admit, though, that there's something to her. Why else would she be in three of the biggest films due out soon? There's Dhoom 3, plus an as-yet-untitled Yash Chopra feature, where she'll star alongside Shah Rukh Khan. And of course, the big Eid release for Yash Raj Films: Ek Tha Tiger, with Salman Khan - whose trailer cheesily announces that "all his life he fought for his country. This Eid he will fight for his love."
This romantic thriller is directed by Kabir Khan and produced by Aditya Chopra, and its trailers are already driving fans crazy, especially the part where cheeky Kat asks Sallu if he is married, and he replies that he certainly is old enough to be.
With the filmmakers trying their best to cash in on the Sallu-Kat factor, the movie is definitely going to be an interesting mix of action and romance. Seeing as real love is no longer an option between Kat and Sallu, fans will have to make do with reel love.
Another film I'm looking forward to is Barfii - which Kat was supposed to be in, initially, if rumours are to be believed. I wouldn't be surprised if they were true. For one, Kat's long been a favourite of the Barfii director Anurag Basu. Secondly, the male lead in the film is Ranbir Kapoor, and we know that he's definitely made the screen sizzle with Kat in the past.
The Southern actress Ileana D'Cruz was cast in the role instead, and though Basu calls it D'Cruz's "destiny", others might call it Kat's cast-off.
Regardless of who plays the part, the film is already eagerly awaited by many. The trailer, which was released last week, got almost 400,000 YouTube views in less than 24 hours. Filming for the mid-September release has just concluded, and we have some exclusive pictures from the cast and crew's wrap party. Head on to our blog (www.thenational.ae/scene-heard) to see them for yourself.
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
The Scale for Clinical Actionability of Molecular Targets
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
Company Profile
Company name: OneOrder
Started: October 2021
Founders: Tamer Amer and Karim Maurice
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Industry: technology, logistics
Investors: A15 and self-funded
SQUADS
India
Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wicketkeeper), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shardul Thakur
New Zealand
Kane Williamson (captain), Martin Guptill, Colin Munro, Ross Taylor, Tom Latham (wicketkeeper), Henry Nicholls, Ish Sodhi, George Worker, Glenn Phillips, Matt Henry, Colin de Grandhomme, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Adam Milne, Trent Boult
The bio
Favourite book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Favourite travel destination: Maldives and south of France
Favourite pastime: Family and friends, meditation, discovering new cuisines
Favourite Movie: Joker (2019). I didn’t like it while I was watching it but then afterwards I loved it. I loved the psychology behind it.
Favourite Author: My father for sure
Favourite Artist: Damien Hurst
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
Titanium Escrow profile
Started: December 2016
Founder: Ibrahim Kamalmaz
Based: UAE
Sector: Finance / legal
Size: 3 employees, pre-revenue
Stage: Early stage
Investors: Founder's friends and Family
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Stree
Producer: Maddock Films, Jio Movies
Director: Amar Kaushik
Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Shraddha Kapoor, Pankaj Tripathi, Aparshakti Khurana, Abhishek Banerjee
Rating: 3.5
In Full Flight: A Story of Africa and Atonement
John Heminway, Knopff
Profile box
Founders: Michele Ferrario, Nino Ulsamer and Freddy Lim
Started: established in 2016 and launched in July 2017
Based: Singapore, with offices in the UAE, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Thailand
Sector: FinTech, wealth management
Initial investment: $500,000 in seed round 1 in 2016; $2.2m in seed round 2 in 2017; $5m in series A round in 2018; $12m in series B round in 2019; $16m in series C round in 2020 and $25m in series D round in 2021
Current staff: more than 160 employees
Stage: series D
Investors: EightRoads Ventures, Square Peg Capital, Sequoia Capital India