Priya Gupta (BOMBAY TIMES; March 17, 2015)

Katrina Kaif has lived in London a major part of her life before being a superstar in Bollywood. And so, it comes as no surprise that having her own statue there is something that would be extra special for her. Bollywood celebrities, who already have their statues there so far, are Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Kareena Kapoor Khan and Madhuri Dixit-Nene. We have exclusively learnt that Katrina's statue will be unveiled on March 27 in London. What is unique about Katrina's statue is that while the others are normally posed standing ones, Katrina will be in an Indian traditional folk dance pose, with her body at an angle and arms stretched. So we guess, her statue will require more space than the others as typically Madame Tussauds leaves space next to each celebrity, such that their fans can pose with them in the same pose as the celebrity has done in the statue. Also, while usually in the past, Madame Tussauds chooses whose wax statue they would create, this was amongst the few times that they selected Katrina through an online poll contest, where she won by a huge margin over her two contemporaries (both of which surprisingly are big on the social media ). Being asked whether Katrina could have ever dreamt of having a statue being a London girl, she said, “Madame Tussauds is a very integral part of London's 'go-to-see' places. So I don't think one can imagine it also. But when I heard that they had statues of Amitji, Salman, Aishwarya, Madhuri and Kareena, somewhere at the back of your mind you are thinking wow that would be nice. There are a few things from time to time you don't mind and having a statue there is one such. Also, three of my sisters live in London. They have kids there, so it's very special for them. The minute it was, announced, I got a message on WhatsApp with all of them saying they are all coming. So they will be there in full attendance. When it was announced, I came home and high-fived my friends.“ On being asked about her favourite statue amongst the Indian celebrities there, she immediately said, “I liked Sachin Tendulkar's statue as it was very like him.“