After debuting with Kal Kissne Dekha, Jackky Bhagnani, the producer’s son with the numerological name, is gearing up for the follow up. “We start shooting the first week of October and we’re doing the location hunting at the moment. It’s going to be somewhere in India. It has to be in India, because it’s a very India-based story, and for this film location plays a big role,” says Jackky.
He is quick to dismiss reports that his next project shares similarities with Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na. “It’s nothing close to Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na,” Jackky explains. “The problem is if I tell people it’s a story about a group of friends, they immediately assume it is along the lines of JTYJN.”
While Kal Kissne Dekha may have under performed at the box office, Bhagnani remains upbeat, “All I can say is that as an actor I did my best and people liked my performance. I’m not the kind of person to dwell on things. I like to move ahead and I’m already focusing on my next film.” Bhagnani gained fans after knock out stage shows with Kareena Kapoor, and slots at this year’s Filmfare and IIFA awards. “I’m grateful and thankful that my work as an individual has been accepted,” acknowledges the future Hero No 1.
After completing formal acting training in the US, Bhagnani can not be dismissed with the producer’s son tag, “I went to Lee Strasberg Institute in New York for nine months. It was superb. Apart from acting, you meet so many people from different countries, and get to experience performing in front of an audience.”
The media in India seems obsessed with the fact that the actor lost 60kg to gain entry into Bollywood, Jackky traces the source of the story to one of his seniors in the industry, “It started when Salman Khan came along on my birthday, and he told the press that I have known Jackky since he was really small and really big.”
Like his producer dad Vashu Bhagnani, this rising star plans a long innings in the industry, “I have a list of directors I want to work with, which is about four pages long.” As for leading ladies, “I would love to work with Priyanka, Katrina, Kareena and Deepika,” states a diplomatic Bhagnani Jr. When pushed, Jackky confides, “I really like Jacqueline Fernandez. I’ve seen her promos for Aladdin think she’s really good, really sweet and talented.”
