In the age of the Insta-star, when tracking a celebrity hardly requires effort, Kaif’s allure lies in the fact that you have to prick your ears to hear what she has to say. She doesn’t open up very often, so when she does you listen. Will she ever volunteer herself to public commentary? “People share things all the time…it doesn’t come naturally to me,” she says resolutely.
Even as Kaif is in the throes of finally getting herself the tiny blue tick of online stardom, she is aware that it is a long-term commitment that would warrant regular updates. She is already overwhelmed by the thought of it. “I fear I might get into a war of words, constantly clarifying myself. I guess there is a positive and negative side to it,” she says, adding, “But it is something I say I have been thinking of doing for a while [laughs].”
While her relationship with her boyfriend and the ensuing split garnered multiple page-view-generating stories, Kaif hasn’t said a word about it. She does offer an explanation for her silence: “All Cancerians are guarded to a certain extent. That’s just the way it is,” she says. “It’s also just about being a girl,” she shrugs.
Kaif says she isn’t reserved on her own accord but she plays it safe when it involves “another person who is not in your control.” “Which means, you are going to be speaking for yourself and for that other person, constantly making changes and updates, you know?” she says.
TAG APPROVALIn the case of Kaif, silence seems to have worsened the speculation about her relationships. But she can’t really bother as she soldiers through another year of hectic filming. Her instinct is better suited to a cast member of Survivor than the seductive girl in a red gown urging you to buy a mango drink. In fact, Kaif seems neither the bubbly girl-next-door nor the sex siren—the two roles she seems to have played the most in her 13-year-long film career. Her calm, collected responses are proof of how quick we are to associate fabricated identities with an actor, and how popular culture buries individuality for the sake of mass appeal.
Over the years, Kaif has wisened up to the fact that business is business and that Bollywood can prove to be shaky turf when it comes to making real friends. “I think I no longer make friends in a way that I am too attached or dependent on people. This is the film industry, this is a place of work and sometimes we mix the personal and the professional too closely,” she shares.
Read the whole interview in Vogue India’s June 2016 issue that hits stands on June 2, 2016.
Photographed by Luis Monteiro; Underwater photography by Sumer Verma; Styled by Anaita Shroff Adajania; Location courtesy Blue Water Sumilon Beach Resort, Oslob, Cebu, Philippines
Hair: Daniel Bauer/Artist Factory India; Make-up: Bianca Hartkopf/Toabh Management; Assistant stylist: Priyanka Kapadia; Photographer’s assistant: Karl Axon; Production: Divya Jagwani; Production manager: Terry Hahin; Production assistants: Jess Boquiren, Trancy Tangt; Special thanks: Gloriece Glen Do, Juanito Sayo, Kristine Shroff, Neha Nirmalkar; Location courtesy and tourism partners: Department of Tourism, Philippines, Badian Island Wellness Resort & Spa, Cebu, Bluewater Sumilon Beach Resort, Oslob, Cebu, Oslob Whaleshark Watching Centre, Cebu, Kawasan Falls, Embassy of the Republic of Philippines, New Delhi, Philippines Honorary Consulate General, Mumbai, Shroff International Travel Care Inc; Airline partner: SilkAir
