Katrina Kaif’s Mother Suzanne Turquotte Chose Rural Tamil Nadu Over a Life of Comfort

Katrina Kaif is one of Hindi cinema’s most recognisable stars, but her mother, Suzanne Turquotte, has spent years living far removed from the celebrity lifestyle associated with her daughter. Based in rural Tamil Nadu near Madurai, Suzanne has dedicated much of her life to education and community work, including her involvement with Relief Projects India and Mountain View School.

The lack of regular electricity and internet access in the area is not the reason she moved there. It is one of the challenges of the rural environment in which she has chosen to work and live.

The story dates back to 2008, when Suzanne relocated from London to Tamil Nadu and began developing community programmes focused on children and families in rural areas. Relief Projects India says it was founded that year and initially operated free evening tuition centres for children attending government schools.

Why Did Katrina Kaif’s Mother Move to Tamil Nadu?

Suzanne’s move was connected to her commitment to social work rather than a career in the entertainment industry.

Relief Projects India describes itself as a grassroots nonprofit working in and around Usilampatti in Madurai District. Its work has expanded beyond education to include health awareness, child protection, women’s empowerment and support for rural families.

Over time, Suzanne became closely associated with the organisation’s education work. She is listed by Relief Projects India as a co-founder of Mountain View School and an education adviser.

Katrina has spoken publicly about her mother’s work on several occasions. In an earlier interview, she described Suzanne as a teacher who was happy living and working in Madurai and connected her mother’s charitable work with the values she grew up around.

What Is Mountain View School?

One of the most significant parts of Suzanne’s work is Mountain View School, an English-medium school established in 2015 in E. Puthupatti, Usilampatti Taluk, Madurai District.

According to the organisation’s current website, the school now has 305 students enrolled for the 2025–26 academic year and serves children from rural farming communities. It currently provides education from LKG through Grade 5, with plans to expand further.

The school began on a much smaller scale. Relief Projects India says its first nursery had fewer than 30 children from economically disadvantaged villages. It subsequently received recognition as a nursery and primary school, with enrolment growing substantially over the following years.

The school is not presented simply as a charity-funded institution. Its stated objective is to provide children from rural and lower-income families with access to quality English-medium education and broader opportunities.

The organisation currently says the school employs more than 40 members of the local community, including teachers, support staff, drivers and maintenance workers.

Why Does Electricity Become an Issue?

The recent discussion around Suzanne’s lifestyle has focused heavily on electricity and internet access.

Katrina has previously explained that her mother’s village does not have uninterrupted electricity. She said power can be available for only around 12 hours and that internet connectivity can also be unreliable. As a result, there have been occasions when Katrina could not communicate with her mother through FaceTime and had to use a conventional phone call instead.

In another conversation, Katrina described the lack of electricity as particularly difficult during the hot weather because air conditioning is not available when there is no power. She also acknowledged that her mother has continued living in those conditions because of her commitment to helping people.

It is important to distinguish this from saying that Suzanne has deliberately rejected electricity altogether. The available accounts describe limited or intermittent electricity in the rural location, not a complete permanent absence of electricity.

Suzanne’s Work Goes Beyond the School

Mountain View School is only one part of Relief Projects India’s activities.

The organisation says it currently works across 25-plus villages and runs 10 free evening tuition centres. Its programmes also cover adolescent development, women's empowerment, health awareness, life skills, career guidance and child protection. It says its community programmes have reached more than 14,000 people.

The organisation’s history shows that its work has evolved over nearly two decades rather than being a recently created celebrity-linked initiative.

An older Relief Projects India report, for example, documented its work in rural communities through health camps, awareness programmes and education initiatives. Its 2019 annual report recorded 185 students at Mountain View School at that time, illustrating how the institution has grown over the years.

Katrina Kaif Has Supported Her Mother’s Work

Katrina has also publicly supported the school.

In 2020, she shared information about Mountain View School and appealed for support for its expansion. At that point, she described the school as having been built with her mother's charity and said it was providing English-medium education to children from less privileged backgrounds.

Katrina has also visited the school. In 2022, she shared photographs and videos from a visit in which she spent time with the children. Her brother Sebastien was also involved with the school.

More recent reporting has also said Katrina contributes financially to her mother’s work, although the precise amount of any current contributions has not been independently established from the primary sources reviewed for this report.

A Different Picture of the Kaif Family’s Childhood

Suzanne’s approach to life also helps explain why Katrina has previously spoken about growing up without the kind of luxury associated with her later career.

Katrina has said that her childhood was relatively frugal and that her mother’s charitable work exposed her and her siblings to communities facing poverty from an early age.

That background adds context to Suzanne’s decision to continue working in a rural environment even after her daughter became one of Bollywood’s leading actors.

Rather than moving towards the lifestyle that might naturally accompany her daughter’s success, Suzanne continued working with rural communities and remained connected to the school and charitable organisation.

What Relief Projects India Is Working Towards Now

The organisation’s current plans show that its work is still expanding.

Mountain View School currently runs through Grade 5, while Relief Projects India says it intends to expand the institution to higher grades in phases. Its immediate expansion plan includes additional classrooms and infrastructure required for middle-school recognition.

The organisation has also outlined a longer-term ambition to provide education through secondary school, allowing children who entered the institution at a young age to continue their education locally.

This makes Suzanne’s story more substantial than the headline about a celebrity’s mother living without modern conveniences. The more important detail is the institution and community network that has developed around her work since 2008.

The Celebrity Hour Take

Suzanne Turquotte’s story is noteworthy because it exists almost entirely outside the conventional celebrity narrative.

The most useful context is not simply that Katrina Kaif’s mother lives somewhere with limited electricity or internet. It is why she is there and what has been built around that decision.

From a small network of tuition centres, Relief Projects India has developed into a rural community organisation, while Mountain View School has grown from a small nursery into a school serving more than 300 students.

Katrina’s public comments also make clear that she recognises how difficult her mother’s lifestyle can be. But the available evidence suggests that Suzanne’s continued presence in rural Tamil Nadu is closely tied to her long-term involvement in education and social work.

For readers discovering the story through the electricity and internet angle, the wider record provides the missing context: this is a nearly two-decade-old commitment, not a recent decision to live without modern amenities.

Sources & Verification

This report was prepared using the official Relief Projects India website and its published information about Mountain View School, organisational history and current programmes. Historical details were cross-checked against Relief Projects India’s published reports and established media coverage of Katrina Kaif’s public comments and visits to the school. The description of limited electricity and internet access is based on Katrina’s previously reported statements; it should not be interpreted as meaning the village has no electricity at all.