Without even having a single release, former Miss Sri Lanka, Jacqueline Fernandes is being tipped for the top. How does she feel about making her debut opposite Amitabh Bachchan and Riteish Deshmukh in Aladin? “I was overwhelmed,” she explains, “See, when you’re a newcomer, you expect the worst and I had these nightmares running through my mind — what will people expect of me? Will I be accepted? Will I adjust? I also had to go the whole hog, kickboxing and other training regimes, emoting and diction classes; the schedule was so tough – but when I got the hang of things, especially Hindi, it was a roller-coaster ride. Then, on the first day of my shoot, I saw Amitabh and I couldn’t say more than a ‘Namaste’ and retreated hastily into my vanity van.”
How will she be playing the role of Jasmine in the movie? “In Sujoy Ghosh’s movie she is just a simple bubbly college girl,” she explains, “I had to just play myself. But there were times when people asked me if I was playing the genie. I’m still wondering how I could be the fat, blue thing!” The role calls for her to be a bit of a fashionista – all Roberto Cavalli and Moschino. “The role is really what I am — a whole lotta fun!” she adds.
Perhaps the most amazing thing about Jacqueline is that she was never meant. The Australian-educated beauty explains that after the birth of her brother, her mother underwent a sterilisation operation to prevent future pregnancies. “However, it just so happens that the operation was a flop,” she explains, “And here I am – a person who just thrives on life and never wastes a single second. My mother always reminds me I was a miracle child.”
