B-town’s outsider

Jacqueline Fernandez says she’s enjoying her life on the professional front. Despite her last movie, A Flying Jatt, not doing too well on the box office, the feisty actress is putting her hopes on her next outing, A Gentleman.

“I am being offered a few good projects,” she says. “I look at very, very strong content, and also try to do roles that are dynamic. I’m meeting a lot of producers and directors from the new bunch, as well as the old one. And I’m trying to choose content that hopefully works at the box office. But again, you never know what works and won’t work. Still, I’m consciously trying to take a favourable decision for me. Hopefully, it will work!”

Her co-star in A Gentleman is Sidharth Malhotra, who, like her, is a rank outsider in the industry. And that is something Jackie identifies with. “We’ve faced the same struggles in our profession,” she explains. “We face insecurities and worries of the same kind. When you’re recognised through your hard work, you feel wonderful.”

In the movie, Sidharth plays a double role, and Jacqueline says she had quite a blast working opposite both his avatars. “Between his characters Gaurav and Rishi, I like Rishi more,” she muses. “He’s bad and unpredictable and at times such characters do excite girls in real life. But at the same time, Gaurav is also very sweet. He knows how to cook, which I really like. And Sidharth may have cooked in the film, but he is a horrible cook! He can’t cook for nuts! He can’t even boil an egg.”

As far as Judwaa 2 goes, Jacqueline is grateful that she was chosen to be part of it. “We have finished a major portion of the shoot. It was amazing to see Salman Khan on the sets, performing a cameo in the film. While shooting for this movie, he also became nostalgic. He was happy to watch Varun in the film. Salman has seen him grow, and sharing special moments on the set made him nostalgic” she says.

On her performance in A Flying Jatt’s, Jackie adds, “I don’t know what went wrong. We, from the industry, work hard and have high expectations whenever our films release. We would for all out films, and when they don’t fare well, we feel bad. I think the audiences are changing very fast. Thus we cannot take any of our films for granted. Having said this, we try different content every time. There’s no formula for a hit film, I guess.”

After having acted with Salman in Kick earlier, will we see Jacqueline in Kick 2? “A lot of changes are happening on a scripting level, as well as other things,” she says. “I don’t know if I’m going to be a part of it. You go and ask (Sajid) Nadiadwala.”

Besides her movies, Jacqueline takes solace in her pole dancing. “Surprisingly, here in India, many assume it to be an erotic kind of dance,” she sighs. “But you need ample energy to perform this dance. I find pole dancers have to exercise a lot in order to maintain their energy levels. It was not easy for me to reach there. It’s like a sport to me. I got bruises initially, and was worried about it. I charged myself up and decided to take proper exercising lessons and learned it to perfection. It strengthens your physical self and keeps you fit as a fiddle.”

Despite having been in the industry for a while, the Sri Lankan beauty is conscious about the fact that her Hindi is a little weak. “I lack confidence as an artiste, at times,” she laments. “My Hindi is a big hindrance for me. Though I have learned it, I need to perfect it a bit more.”

But she’s glad for the friends she’s made here. “I’m happy I’ve made so many friends in the industry,” she smiles. “Especially after working with them, I’ve shared a great bond with them. Sonam Kapoor, Taapsee Pannu, Sidharth, Varun, and his whole family are like family to me. Salman and his entire family too welcomes me and understands me.”

She does feel bad about the nepotism controversy that has hit Hindi movies. “The industry is a safe place. I feel sorry for star kids who are also my friends, like Sonam. When they’re misinterpreted and misquoted, it makes us feel sad, because all of us really have to work very hard. With the baggage of success, our attitude and persona changes for the better. But when mud is slung even at us, not only us, but our parents too feel bad and feel the pinch,” she concludes.