Zareen Khan says comparison with Katrina Kaif ‘backfired badly’ after her debut with Salman Khan’s Veer

Zareen Khan opened up about the constant comparison with Katrina Kaif and how it impacted her career. She made her acting debut in Bollywood with Veer (2010).

Zareen Khan candidly talked about her career and experience in Bollywood, and addressed the comparisons with actor Katrina Kaif. In the latest episode on Bharti Singh and Haarsh Limbachiyaa’s podcast, Zareen shared how she was perceived as ‘arrogant’ in the industry, and that comparisons with Katrina ‘backfired’. Zareen made her debut in Bollywood opposite Salman Khan in the 2010 film Veer.

What Zareen said
During the conversation, when Zareen was asked to share her experience in the industry after Veer, the actor said in Hindi, “Life after Veer was very bad for me, I got a lot of criticism for it. The film was so big, it still is a life-changing moment for me. Initially, I felt very happy that I was being compared to Katrina Kaif! She is so beautiful! But i think within the industry, things turned quite the opposite. For me, who used to be overweight, being compared to Katrina was huge, but it backfired badly. I was a lost child in the industry, and I didn’t know most people here. I only knew the names of the producers and directors not by their faces… but they started to feel I was arrogant because Salman Khan launched me.”

‘That comparison went in a very negative way’
Zareen went on to detail that she received so much criticism that at one point, she would be scared about leaving her home because of the comments. “There was a time I was even scared to step out of my house because people would comment on my clothes. That comparison went in a very negative way. I was called overweight. What should I do? I was given so many names, that at one point, I wanted to just sit at home,” she said.

After Veer, Zareen rose to fame after starring in the popular dance number Character Dheela with Salman in the 2011 comedy-drama Ready. Her highest-grossing release remains Housefull 2. Besides these, Zareen also featured in films like Hate Story 3, Aksar 2, 1921 and many more.