Katrina to play item girl in 'Tees Maar Khan'

The movie, directed by Farah Khan and produced by her husband Shirish Kunder, will see Kaif pairing opposite Akshay Kumar, his co-star of hits like 'Namaste London', 'Welcome', 'Singh is Kinng' and recently released 'De Dana Dan'.

"Yes, Katrina is playing a wannabe item girl in 'Tees Maar Khan'. Beyond that I can't reveal much about her character at this stage," producer Shirish Kunder said.

This is for the first time in her career that Kaif would be enacting the character of an item girl. She has played a supermodel in her debut 'Boom', a rich heiress in 'De Dana Dan', a girl next door in 'Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani' and a married woman with a kid in 'New York'.

Kunder, who has also written the story, said they deliberated quite a lot on the leading lady for the movie before signing the actress.

When asked whether her British background would be coming in handy if she plays one of those NRIs from Southall who wish to make it big in Bollywood, Kunder said.

"Nothing like that. There isn't any Southall connection to Katrina's character in the film. Instead she came in primarily due to her overall appearance which just fitted in perfectly with the requirement of the character. We were looking for somebody like her and ultimately settled for her only," Kunder said.

Though Kareena Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra have played fashion models in the past, getting into the garb of an item girl isn't something that many have dared to do in the past.

'Tees Maar Khan' will see a global release on 24th December, taking over the slot which has been occupied by Aamir Khan since 'Taare Zameen Par' (2007), 'Ghajini' (2008) and '3 Idiots' (2009).

"Farah and I are mighty excited to start shooting for the film, beginning 1st March. 'Tees Maar Khan' would belong to Farah Khan brand of film, as established after 'Om Shanti Om' and 'Main Hoon Naa'. You would certainly be aware about the language that she talks," Kunder said.

"Her films are meant to be complete masala entertainers that cater to all segments of audiences and 'Tees Maar Khan' does exactly that. I am so convinced that we have the best case scenario here with her donning the hat of the director and I running the film's production," he added.