C OVER STORY
GETTING MY KICKS RIGHT
JACQUELINE FERNANDEZ
S
he may seem to be all about mascara and manicures. But the exotic Jacqueline Fernandez, is in
fact, a tough-as-nails beauty. No wonder, the girl
from Sri Lanka left her languid shoreline to make a fortune on the island of skyscrapers. And she did it all alone.
The heartbreaks, the pitfalls, the mistakes were all hers.
And they sculpted her. Glamour she had in dollops. But
the grunge lent gravitas to her character. Today, she’s
not only a scorcher on the red carpet but also the pride
of big-ticket releases. Kick may have kickstarted her rise
to fame. But the recent Brothers has further established
her kinship with showbiz. Right now, mixing work with
pleasure, Jacqueline has agreed for an interview as she
spruces up for Sajid Nadiadwala’s Housefull 3. As her
princess-like feet sink in the foam, she spills the beans
on her survival tricks, link-ups and how she means ‘business’ at the end of the day…
How often do you visit a beauty salon?
(Laughs) Once or twice a day … hey just joking! We
have hectic schedules, so it’s not possible to find time
easily. But today I spent four hours here because I won’t
be able to do so for the next two months. I’m getting
ready for the shoot of Housefull 3.
How else are you preparing for Housefull 3?
Housefull 3, being a comedy, is all about timing. It’s
about glamour as well. We worked with our stylist Tanya
Ghavri extensively to get the look right. We do have the
script with us. But directors Sajid-Farhad will improvise
a lot on the set. I was part of Housefull 2 and I know
everything changes on the set.Because we actors come
together and make things funnier. So right now, it’s only
about the look.
Do you find comedy a difficult genre?
Comedy is difficult. You can be a funny person but it’s
not easy to be so in front of the camera. That’s why I
admire Akshay Kumar. His comic timing is so good. He
is the king of comedy. The amazing thing about Akshay
is that he’s funny both on camera and off it. It’s great that
he can translate his real-life humorous self on reel. His
sense of humour rubs off on you as well.
Akshay is known to be a prankster. Did he pull a fast one
on you?
He’s not a prankster. He’s just a funny person. He’s fun.
He will make you laugh. He hasn’t played pranks on me.
Either he’ll make you say something funny or he’ll make
everyone play a game and then cheat a bit. His pranks
are in good humour and are not meant to harm. I’ve just
been lucky because I’ve usually been in his team when
it comes to pranks. We team up together. I’m always on
the safe side. He’s like, ‘Yay! I have a partner in crime’.
Thank God he’s not done anything drastic to me.
Was Akshay different on the set of Brothers and Housefull 3?
There’s a bit of a difference. On the set of Housefull 3,
he’s like what he’s in real life. He’s chilled and cracks
jokes. But on the set of Brothers he was toned down.
Like during shooting the serious scenes where our
daughter is in hospital or during the tension-filled scenes
26 | BOOM