Katrina Kaif, Bang Bang on Target at 30

Life's one big Dhoom for Katrina Kaif as she turns 30. At the box office, she is gold, with her last three releases - Jab Tak Hai Jaan, Ek Tha Tiger and Dhoom: 3 - turning out to be blockbusters. Her upcoming projects, also with big banners, look equally promising.

On her 30th birthday, here is a look at her Bollywood journey so far.

Katrina was born on July 16, 1984 in Hong Kong. Her father, Mohd Kaif, is Kashmiri and her mother, Susanna Turquotte, is British. Katrina's parents divorced when she was young.

Katrina, who has seven siblings, was raised in Hawaii and later moved to England, her mother's home country.

In Hawaii, 14-year-old Katrina was scouted by an agent and began modelling. Her first assignment was for a jewellery campaign.

Katrina continued her modelling career in London, appearing for brands such as La Senza.

Katrina stirred up quite a fuss with her Bollywood debut in Kaizad Gustad's Boom in 2003. All of 18, she made headlines for her uber-glamorous bikini-clad role but the film was a flop and critics were harsh about her performance.

After Boom bombed at the box office and her sketchy command of Hindi proved a major obstacle in bagging Bollywood roles, Katrina appeared in three Southern language films - the Telugu Malliswari and Allari Pidugu and Malayalam language Balram vs Taradas.

2005 gave her a breakthrough in the form of an extended cameo as Abhishek Bachchan's NRI girlfriend in Ram Gopal Varma's Sarkar.

She also had a major role in rumoured-beau Salman Khan's film Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya in 2005.

In 2007, Namastey London with Akshay Kumar made Katrina a bona-fide star. She cemented her position with films like Apne (2007), Partner (2007) with Salman and Welcome (2007) with Akshay.

A year later, Katrina's first negative role, in Abbas-Mastan's twist-ridden Race, fetched crores at the box office.

Her fourth pairing with Akshay Kumar in Singh Is Kinng (2008) also rocked at the box office.

But her near-perfect run at the box office, which led to her being described as every director's lucky charm, came to an abrupt end with Atul Agnihotri's Hello (2008), and Subhash Ghai's epic flop Yuvraaj (2008).

2009 picked up well for Katrina as her first Yash Raj Films project, New York, became the first official hit of the year. Katrina was nominated for a Filmfare Award for Best Actress.

Raj Kumar Santoshi's second foray into the comedy genre with Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani (2009) cast Katrina opposite Ranbir Kapoor. Not only was the film a hit, their screen romance reportedly spilled over into real life as well.

At the box office, the year ended on a bad note with movie number six with Akshay Kumar, De Dana Dan, flopping.

In 2010, Katrina appeared in Prakash Jha's Raajneeti opposite Ranbir Kapoor, flooring both critics and audiences alike and even winning a couple of awards.

Raajneeti's good work was undone by Farah Khan's disastrous Tees Maar Khan (2010), with fan-favourite item number Sheila Ki Jawani providing the only silver lining.

In 2011, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, in which she was cast opposite Hrithik Roshan, proved to be a scorcher at the box office where it became one of the biggest hits of the year.

She was also seen in the candyfloss comedy Mere Brother Ki Dulhan with Imran Khan and Ali Zafar in 2011.

Katrina then sent temperatures soaring with a second item number - this time as a special appearance - called Chikni Chameli in the 2012 remake of Agneepath starring Hrithik Roshan.

Also in 2012, Katrina starred in the blockbuster Ek Tha Tiger opposite ex-beau Salman Khan. The film was directed by Kabir Khan, who previously directed Katrina in New York.

Rounding off 2012 was Katrina's role in Yash Chopra's magnum opus Jab Tak Hai Jaan, co-starring Shah Rukh Khan and Anushka Sharma.

In 2013, Katrina appeared as the beautiful circus performer Aaliya opposite Aamir Khan. The film was a blockbuster and beat all records to make over Rs 500 crores at the box office.

On the personal front, Katrina was linked with Salman Khan when she joined the film industry in 2003. Their alleged romance reportedly ended in 2010 after she became close to Ranbir Kapoor while filming Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani. However Ranbir and Katrina have so far steered clear of commenting on the endless rumours about their reported romance and go to great lengths to avoid being photographed together, the only exception being the pictures of the two holidaying in Spain which emerged in July last year.

Katrina is currently busy shooting for Bang Bang with Hrithik Roshan. Also in her kitty are Kabir Khan's counter-terrorism drama Phantom and Jagga Jasoos with Ranbir Kapoor.

We wish Katrina a very happy birthday and a great year ahead.