Jacqueline Fernandez has mostly been on the sidelines of the industry — is her time to shine finally here?
ACTRESS JACQUELINE FERNANDEZ HAS BEEN PATIENT IN GIVING HER CAREER A PROPER KICKSTART. NOW SEEMS TO BE THE PERFECT TIME. GO PLAY, GIRL!
Patience pays. Or at least it has in the case of Jacqueline Fernandez, who subsisted on the margins of movie- dom for as many as seven years. Today, she’s i n our drawing rooms on weekends as one of the three jurors — alongside Karan Johar and choreographer Ganesh Hegde — of the topTRP rated reality dance show, Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa. She’s taken over the seat once allocated to Madhuri Dixit and then Shahid Kapoor.
A former model and TV reporter, the 32- year- old Jacqueline, aka Jackie, is quite an unusual suspect who has, after a long grind, made it in the charmed circle of heroines.
Unusual, because she was born to a father and mother of Sri Lankan and Malaysian descent, and still seems to have issues with her dialogue delivery in Hindi. Matters not obviously, since leading ladies with a singsong English diction have been accepted by worldwide audiences of Bollywood movies — be it Katrina Kaif or Nargis Fakhri, to cite just two examples. And, of course, before them, Zeenat Aman and Parveen Babi had set the trend for heroines who had an inclusive Westernised personality, liberated from the clichés associated with the typical, subservient Bharatiya nari ( Indian woman).
Slowly but surely, the woman’s status on the screen has gone way beyond the sari- wrapped, suffer- in- silence image which was most glaringly epitomised by such movie titles as Main Chup Rahungi ( I Will Remain Silent).
Hence, Katrina, Nargis, Jacqueline and the favourite poster girl of the campus crowd, Alia Bhatt, can wear de- signer brands from Europe and America, without demurring. Simultaneously, they’re outfitted in saris and salwar kameezes to convey that, despite their cool quotient, they’re equally at home in traditional attire. Evidently, here’s a reflection of the times which calls for a liberation from corsets and Victorianera costumes.
This may be a token change but it’s an important one. How you wish, simultaneously, the women were allowed to be centre- points of more films. Jacqueline still has to find that one big break — a film which places her at the pivot of the storyline. She still has to get opportunities of the kind given in recent years to Kangana Ranaut, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Priyanka Chopra and Kareena Kapoor.
For that, Jacqueline will have to wait, obviously. Thus far though, she was al-
located sufficient footage and significance in a series of films, ranging from Kick with Salman Khan, Roy with Ranbir Kapoor and Arjun Rampal and, to a degree, even i n the actioner Dishoom in the company of John Abraham and Varun Dhawan, proving that besides being adept at the mandatory club dances, she can be a reasonably efficient actress.
Compare the Jacqueline of these films to the heroine of her early days: the tacky fantasy Aladin where the focus rested on Amitabh Bachchan and Riteish Deshmukh essentially. Or her participation in Housefull 2 and Housefull 3, the comedy franchise which is as ridiculous as they come.
I f she had merely sobbed and stumbled in the mystery thriller Murder 2, opposite Emraan Hashmi, well, such projects are a must to find a toehold in show business. The film clicked, and some of the success rubbed off on her. The colossal flopping of Aladin was immediately forgotten and forgiven.
Needless to emphasise, the actress has to sustain an image in the public mind. Presently, her interviews in the media indicate that she’s grounded and affable, except when it comes to discussing her break- ups — first with the Bahrain prince Hassan Bin Rashid Al Khalifa and then with comic actor and filmmaker Sajid Khan. No unpleasant questions allowed.
Similarly, she appears to lack a killer instinct when it comes to signing up new projects. Currently, she only has A Flying Jatt with Tiger Shroff and an English- language film titled According to Matthew, based on a true- life double murder case in Colombo.
Like it or not, it’s the opportune time for Jacqueline to make a big go of her career. She has been seen, of late, on the cover of practically every glossy magazine. She’s being pursued to endorse high- end consumer products. Unarguably, Jackie has arrived on the scene. With a little bit of luck and career stealth, who knows? She could knock out a long innings. wknd@ khaleejtimes.com