Katrina Kaif and Akshay Kumar starrer romantic drama Namastey London clocks 15 years of its release on Wednesday. Directed by Vipul Amrutlal Shah, Namaste London starred late actor Rishi Kapoor and Vir Das, too. The movie depicted the story of a Punjabi family living in London who fly to India to get their London-born daughter married. Katrina played the role of a ‘spoiled’ daughter who thinks of herself as a British citizen and doesn’t pay heeds to her Indian roots while Rishi played the role of her father. However, at the time of the release of the movie 15 years ago, Katrina had thought her career was “over.”
Namastey London marked Katrina’s first major role in Bollywood. Before this film, the actress was often seen playing minor roles, however, after Namastey London happened, Katrina’s career took a leap. During her appearance in Koffee with Karan in the past, the 38-year-old actress had said, “When I saw the film, I was terrified. Vipul showed it to me and said, ‘What do you think?’ I didn’t call him back. You know, when a director shows the actress a film, you have to give him feedback.” Katrina said that she left for home, shut the door and did not give him a call. Soon after that she received a call from Vipul’s assistant, saying that he was ‘really upset’ that she did not give her feedback.
Katrina said, “I called him and I said, ‘Hi Vipul.’He asked, ‘What do you think?’ I said, ‘Nice, very nice film. Okay, bye.’ However, she felt, at the time, that the film would end her career. ‘I just saw too much of myself in the film and you start believing what people say. I was like, ‘No, no, no, people can’t see me in a film, they won’t watch the film, it’s a disaster. This is over, my life is over’.”
The Raajneeti actress revealed during the chat show that she was packing her bags and decided to find a new career. However, life had other plans for her since the film was a critical and commercial success. Katrina told the talk show host Karan Johar that it was really important for her because Namastey London changed people’s perception of her.
Namaste London’s box office collection was a whopping Rs 714 million in 2007. It was also praised by film critics for the performances delivered by the actors and the depiction of immigrant families living abroad perpetually pining for their homeland. Himesh Reshammiya’s music composition gave the audience some memorable songs including Main Jahan Rahoon, sung by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan.
Fans are celebrating 15 years of the movie on social media. One of the fans tweeted, “A story of love and emotions. Celebrating 15 years of Namastey London.”
Some fans are sharing their favourite scenes from the movie.
When Arjun(Akki ) cried in front of Rishi ji before climax,That hurts a lot .
When Arjun got to know Jas-meet did fake marriage and Arjun reaction , that melts my heart
When #AkshayKumar enters with his swag and his eyes ,that makes me his fan
#15YearsOfNamasteyLondon pic.twitter.com/gXMNiWRrqU— Akkian_Addu(Adesh) (@Akkian_x) March 23, 2022
Another fan tweeted, “15 Years of Namastey London. Vipul Shah’s best work till now. This movie is very close to everyone’s heart. It’s my all-time favourite by Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif.”
Namastey London released on March 23 in 2007.
