Katrina Kaif’s sizzling number Sexy lady in Race and now an

impending item song in the sporty film Blue have given her a sensuous

image, but she’s surprisingly uncomfortable with it.

“I want to retain the image of the girl next door. I don’t want the hot

image. Even in Sexy lady I’m fully clothed. I’m still the girl next door.

It’s not the conventionally sexy kind of song,” Katrina told IANS.

Race, where she’s pitched for the sensuous sweepstakes against

Bipasha Basu and Sameera Reddy, has Katrina pulling out all the stops

to erase the homely image.

But she says: “I don’t think so. Everything in Race looks

larger-than-life, very fulsome, urgent and exaggerated. The actors are

styled accordingly. I haven’t done anything like it. Everyone’s talking

about it. I guess that’s a good sign.”

Katrina is equally reluctant to accept she’s doing the most expensive

item song ever in Blue.

“I wouldn’t know about how expensive it is, but I’m doing a special

appearance in Blue and the song-dance is part of it. Yeah, I’m part of

the film in a unique way. Akshay Kumar got me into it.

“As for the expenses, nowadays so many numbers are thrown into the

public’s face. I don’t think it’s right for actors to talk about the financial

side of a film,” said the actress who gave hits like Namastey London

and Welcome last year.

“I want to retain the image of the girl next door. I don’t want the hot

image. Even in Sexy lady I’m fully clothed. It’s not the conventionally

sexy kind of song.”Next, ask her about the status of her relationship

with Salman Khan and she clams up. “I’d like to keep that personal.”

Is it right to presume she’s still with Salman?

“You can presume whatever you like. You can presume I’m an alien

from outer space, if you like. Right now I’m in a very happy place.

“Even rumours of us actresses fighting for space in Race is way off the

mark. I’ve my own place in Race. My confidence-level has grown in

recent times and, yes, it’s partly because of the hits that I’ve had.”

After a number of films where her voice was dubbed Katrina finally

used her own voice in Namastey London. And now she says she has

dubbed for Race.

“I’ve been working very hard on my diction. I try to speak in Hindi in

my daily dealings.”

After being with Salman, who patented the name Prem in a series of

films, Katrina seems stuck with another Prem, Ranbir Kapoor, who’s

her co-star in Rajkumar Santoshi’s Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani.

“I guess they’re worth being stuck with,” she replied tongue-in-cheek.

“I just love the script, my character and Ranbir’s role. He’s so much

into his work. I’m also getting there. For me acting is no longer a

hobby.”