Life hasn’t been easy for Katrina Kaif. In the past five years she has made headlines for everything from her break-up with Ranbir, to her fitness quotient and fashion sense. However, her stock as an actress has been far from impressive. It was five years ago that she starred in Kabir Khan's espionage thriller Ek Tha Tiger.

As a Pakistani ISI agent who falls in love with an Indian RAW agent, she delivered a thumping performance in this highest-grossing Bollywood film of 2012. Her performance was hailed for being “an able, animated foil to Salman, her long legs making her leaps and kicks credible”.

It was perhaps the last time she was spoken of so glowingly…

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Her performance in Jab Tak Hai Jaan drew mixed reactions, as she was criticised for falling short in the emotional scenes.

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Next came her outing as a circus performer opposite Aamir Khan in Dhoom: 3. Despite the film becoming the highest-grossing Bollywood film of all time till it was overtaken by Piku in 2014, all Katrina received was criticism for accepting an unsubstantial role!

The year 2014 brought Bang Bang!, a Hrithik actioner all the way, where she was almost completely overlooked. Her former RAW agent outing in Phantom opposite Saif Ali Khan was dubbed ‘pedestrian’. More low points in store in 2016, as both her releases, Abhishek Kapoor's Fitoor, and NityaMehra's love story BaarBaarDekho with Sidharth Malhotra sank without a trace.

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Her last release, the much-hyped comedy-adventure Jagga Jasoos also went belly up at the b.o. …All of which makes her upcoming Tiger Zinda Hai no less than a potential life-saver in a sea littered with the debris of disappointment.

Salman Khan has risen admirably to the defence of his ex-girlfriend, whom he is visibly sympathetic towards post her break-up with Ranbir Kapoor. He has evidently taken her under his wing again, sharing career guidance and is determined to give her career the boost it needs. He has supposedly also heeded Katrina’s advice to promote their upcoming film more aggressively than he had publicised his last release, Tubelight.

With the Ali Abbas Zafar directorial already grabbing attention for its slick action sequences, and the sizzling chemistry between its lead pair, it does look like this year-end Yash Raj Films will play Santa and give Kat just what she wants!