Kaif's career as a model led to anticipation surrounding her Bollywood debut. "Boom" (2003) had its first screening at the Cannes Film Festival, and was heavily promoted at the event. "Boom" was a commercial and critical failure. Kaif's enactment of a supermodel ensnared in the Mumbai underworld was poorly received, with Ziya U. Salam of "The Hindu" attributing the weak performances of the film's leading ladies to "the vacuity of their expressions". "Hindustan Times" reported that after "Boom"s release, Kaif was written off due to her poor Hindi and thick British accent. She later dismissed the film: "I don't count "Boom" among important happenings in my life. When I signed this film, I didn't know much about India and its film audience". Although Kaif was offered a number of modelling assignments, filmmakers were hesitant to cast her because of her poor command of Hindi. In one instance, Mahesh Bhatt replaced her with Tara Sharma in "Saaya" (2003) as he found her an "inconsistent performer". Subsequently, Kaif began working on her diction through Hindi classes.