Katrina Kaif says she agreed to star in New York ‘begrudgingly’, was gritting her teeth as she walked onto the ‘quaint’ set

However, shortly afterward, she was approached for another film, titled New York. Initially, she had reservations about the new project as it seemed to be a smaller, more artistic film without the typical song-and-dance elements she was accustomed to. However, Salman Khan encouraged her to take on the role, citing his positive experience with the director, Kabir Khan. Despite her initial hesitations, Katrina ultimately agreed to be a part of the film.

The actor said, “I did say yes to the film. I very begrudgingly walked onto the set in New York. Singh Is King had just released and was getting massive love. And I’m walking onto this, as in my mind, slightly arty film, and I’m like, ‘Where are the lights? I don’t see any lights here on the set. Where’s the camera? Such a small crew’. I was gritting my teeth. I was like, this is seeming like a very quaint production. And I was like, ‘Where’s the scale? Where are the people?’”

She added, “That turned very quickly into when the film schedule wrapped in New York, it had been the most incredible experience of my entire life up until then. All of us, we were crying to leave. None of us wanted to leave. And it was crying, like really genuine heartbreak for that experience to get over. My closest friends in my life are all the friends I made on that film till date.”

New York was helmed by Kabir Khan and produced by Aditya Chopra for Yash Raj Films. The movie also starred John Abraham, Neil Nitin Mukesh, and Irrfan Khan.