Katrina Kaif recently shared that she was the one who introduced Salman Khan to director Kabir Khan at an awards show, leading to the director narrating the story of Ek Tha Tiger to Salman.

The actress revealed this during the promotion of her upcoming horror comedy Phone Bhoot. She had already worked with Kabir in the 2009 Yash Raj Films movie New York.

“Ek Tha Tiger was such a novel idea at the time. I introduced Kabir Khan to Salman Khan. Kabir was with me backstage at an award show. Salman was supposed to go on stage to collect an award for his performance in one of his films. That time I introduced both of them,” said Katrina, who plays ISI agent Zoya in Ek Tha Tiger and Tiger Zinda Hai.

“I told Salman that Kabir had an idea and he wanted to narrate it to him. At that time, somebody called Salman on stage to receive the award, but Salman told them that he wanted to chat with Kabir. That was their first interaction. That was the time when they sat together and had a conversation about Ek Tha Tiger,” she added.

The 2012 film Ek Tha Tiger was directed by Kabir, while its sequel Tiger Zinda Hai (2017) was directed by Ali Abbas Zafar. The third part of the franchise, Tiger 3, starring Katrina and Salman, is being directed by Maneesh Sharma and is set for a Diwali 2023 release.

Apart from the upcoming film Phone Bhoot, which will hit the theatres on November 4, Katrina has a number of projects lined up. After completing promotions for Phone Bhoot, she will resume shooting for Vijay Sethupathy-led Merry Christmas.

Having completed 19 years in the film industry, the actress recently expressed her wish to star in an action-packed superhero film or a period film.