Katrina Kaif's Scarcity Strategy Is Paying Off

Katrina Kaif works less than she once did, and it has made her more valuable rather than less. The slate has narrowed to selective, large-scale projects, while the endorsement portfolio has stayed near the top of the industry for well over a decade.

Scarcity is the strategy. An actor who appears in four films a year is a working professional; one who appears in one is an event, and events command different fees on both sides of the business.

It is a model very few Hindi film actresses have successfully run past their mid-thirties, largely because the industry has historically not offered them the choice. That she has had the choice at all is part of the story.