Jacqueline -poised for bollywood debut
by Ruwini Jayawardana
With a dream debut starring next
to giants in the Hindi film industry like Amitabh Bachchan and Sanjay
Dutt, model cum actress, Jacqueline Fernandez couldn’t have asked for a
better entrance to the Indian film industry. The svelte actress who
hails from Sri Lanka and who had represented the isle as Miss Sri Lanka
2006 for Miss Universe captured the eye of director Sujoy Ghosh who had
been on the look out for a lead lady for his movie ‘Aladin’.
 He had screen tested hundreds of girls all vying for the role before
deciding on Jacqueline without even so much as a screen test! “The movie
is very different from the Arabian Night’s fable. It has a great twist
to the story although retaining the genie and the magic lamp. My
character, Jasmine, is an easy-going College girl whom I can very much
relate to.
The larger than life story, outstanding sets, interesting characters
carried off by legendary actors and a mastermind director sets ‘Aladin’
apart from other movies,” Jacqueline opined on her debut to the wide
screen.
The film is also rumoured to be the first of its kind in Bollywood
with special effects taking being done by the same team who worked on
productions like the ‘Harry Potter’ series, ‘Matrix’ and ‘Spiderman’.
The fantasy flick was shot in locations in Jodhpur and Rajasthan.
Though she holds a degree in Mass Communication from Sydney University
in Australia Jacqueline said that she had always wanted to be an actress
and that she had geared up to face the challenge. “Acting comes
naturally to me.
I have been working on television for some time so I do not develop
cold feet in front of the camera,” she added with confidence. She will
be romancing with young actor Riteish Deshmukh, acting opposite Sanjay
Dutt and dancing alongside Big B. Queried about her thoughts on this
fact she said, “Amitabh is my favourite actor internationally. No one
comes close to the magic he creates on screen.
It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for me. Sanjay is an extremely
intense and clever actor. I learnt a lot from his style of acting.
Riteish is professional in outlook and a hard worker but more than
that a lovely human being who made the experience even more memorable.”
Preparing for the role had not been a cake walk for Jacqueline for she
had to take lessons on acting and learning to speak Hindi.
The bright girl had emerged victoriously through the challenges for
she was able to dub her own lines for ‘Aladin’. Not surprisingly more
directors have been eyeing the talented beauty to rope her into their
projects.
Critics have dubbed her as ‘most exotic import Bollywood had ever
had’ and according to the Hindustan Times, Siddharth Anand of Salaam
Namaste fame and Tarun Mansukhani, the maker of Dostana, are both
considering her for their upcoming movies.
“Both directors have liked my work in ‘Aladin’ and hopefully they are
considering me for their projects.
Let’s wait and see,” she added with enthusiasm while revealing that
she had completed shooting for Nikhil Advani’s Jaana Kahan Se Aayi Hain
(Where did she come from?). She will also be acting with John Abraham in
her third movie. ‘Aladin’ will hit theatres in India on October 30. |
