Meet Aladin’s lady love
SANGEETHA DEVI DUNDOO
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Jacqueline Fernandez is former Miss Sri Lanka, a journalist, TV anchor and now the leading lady of ‘Aladin’.
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Her first film hits theatres today and she is already being billed as the next big thing in B-town. Jacqueline Fernandez is partly Sri Lankan and partly Malaysian and joins the long list of foreign imports in Hindi films.
After Brazilian model Giselle Monteiro who stole hearts as Harleen Kaur in Love Aaj Kal, it’s Jacqueline who is making heads turn. “I always wanted to be in the movies. I got a modelling contract and shifted to Mumbai to be part of the entertainment industry,” says the spunky actress who won the Miss Sri Lanka crown in 2006.
She grew up in Bahrain and later studied Mass Communication, reported on political and business news before anchoring television shows in Sri Lanka. “I am a spontaneous person and when I see opportunities, I make the best use of them.
When I was working in Sri Lanka, I learnt that miss Sri Lanka pageant was going to be revived after a long time. It seemed like a good thing to be added on to my list of things to do,” recalls Jacqueline. She went on to win the crown and then contested the Miss Universe pageant in 2007.
Her next stop was modelling and movies. Mumbai gave her a chance to get familiar with the modelling world before she auditioned for Aladin. The film unit credits her for keenly observing mannerisms of Indian women and incorporating them in her character. “It’s natural that you observe people, culture and mannerisms when you shift base to a new country. As an actor, you observe every person you meet and pick up things. I was doing just that,” she says.
Jacqueline has no qualms being an outsider and particularly a foreigner. “Cinema in general has become quite global. International movies are full of actors from other countries and Bollywood has opened up too,” she argues. She learnt Hindi and even dubbed for her second movie, co-starring Ritesh Deshmukh, Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai. “I had the option of learning Hindi in school but opted for French.” She can also speak Spanish and Arabic. “You cannot stop learning languages. It’s a beautiful process that helps you learn the culture of a country.”
Actors John Abraham, Ritesh, Abhay Deol and Shahid Kapur are among those who think Jacqueline shows great promise. Tell her that and she smiles, “I came here not knowing if I would be accepted. It’s great to get such a warm welcome.”
Fun time Jacqueline and Ritesh with Sujoy Ghosh.
The storyteller
Two men sat in a coffee shop and believed they can make a film that has never been seen before on the Indian screen. One was actor Ritesh Deshmukh and the other, adman-turned-director Sujoy Ghosh who debuted with Jhankaar Beats. &#
8220;I used to kill time at the coffee shop,” recalls Sujoy. At the coffee shop, seeing a poster of Aladin and the magic lamp, Ritesh hit upon the idea of contemporarising the fable. Sujoy developed the idea and wanted Amitabh Bachchan as the genie.
Today, Amitabh dancing to Genie Rap, choreographed by Shiamak Davar, is the anthem of the movie. “It was never going to be easy to retell the fable. But therein lay the challenge and it made work fun,” says Sujoy.
Aladin is a student who gets bullied by friends to rub the ‘magic lamp’ hoping to see a genie. Many attempts later, the genie appears and helps the shy guy win his lady love. Put in a generous dose of SFX and you get the contemporary version of the fable. “I didn’t know Aladin would turn out to be such a big film. Special effects had to match Hollywood standards and that was bound to take time. We factored in that while working,” says Sujoy. After the breezy Jhankaar Beats, he gave a dud called Home Delivery. “I’ve no idea what went wrong with that movie,” shrugs Sujoy. Aladin, once again, has his favourite composers Vishal and Shekhar. “They are like family to me. We were unemployed at the same time and then got the break with Jhankaar Beats.”
On Jacqueline, he says, “I auditioned at least 100 girls before selecting her. She fit the role. If she is a foreigner and didn’t know Hindi, that was her problem and not mine. As a director, I expected her to understand Hindi when she came on to the sets. She worked really hard and is terrific in the film.”
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