Katrina Kaif terms superstars as 'friends'

Actress Katrina Kaif feels fortunate that biggies like Shah Rukh Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Akshay Kumar and Salman Khan are her friends, and says she respects them and ego doesn't come into friendship.

"I don't need to look at, 'why have you hurt my ego'. That's your problem. Disrespect is different. You must stand up and defend (against) that. What purpose does ego serve? I'm just a person," Katrina said.

"Whether it is Shah Rukh or Hrithik, Akshay or Salman, I'm very fortunate to call them friends and they are important to me. I can talk to them any time. I respect them and when you respect someone, ego doesn't come into it," added the actress.

The actress will soon be seen in 'Sooryavanshi' with Akshay and she says that the oft-repeated perception that she is a "blockbuster star but not a great actor" never bothers her.

She said: "My focus was to be a star. I wanted to be loved by people and seen by people. That came from when I was growing up. I have zero inhibitions about hiding and changing that.

That's my journey and my story, and I have to own that. I did exactly what I set out to do. Every day I realise how fortunate I am to say that.

I wanted to be known in every household, my idol was Hema Malini ji and that's what I was interested in being."

For Katrina, life is all about striking a balance. "There's a lot that you need to try and balance. A lot changes, so it's very hard to talk about your career. It becomes a subconscious engrained habit to whether I'm doing well.

It's judged by the parameters of the film industry and media. Your sense of self and your sense of self worth gets driven by that. Your sense of self comes from who you are.

Whether a film is a success or not has to not weigh on your sense of self."