The Island Girl: Jacqueline Fernandez

The last time Jacqueline Fernandez was on the FHM cover, the Greece economy wasn’t in the crapper, Germany were still football champions, Julian Assange hadn’t been arrested, Robert Downey Jr had been part of only one movie from the Sherlock Holmes and Iron Man franchise, iPads hadn’t been invented, and Kim Jong Il, Osama Bin Laden as well as Steve Jobs were all still alive.

Between then and now, Miss Fernandez might not have managed to get herself a hit movie in the traditional sense of the term, but she has done an item song in Housefull, a substantial role in Housefull 2 and a very memorable too hot to handle without gloves role in Murder 2. She has also managed to get herself a legion of followers, a couple of ads, made herself a PETA ambassador and turned ‘Jacky Oh’ into the most clichéd headline for her interviews, but even more than that she has managed to unify Indian men.

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And that’s a tough task. Indian men haven’t been united in their disapproval of anything as they have been of Pakistan beating the stuffing out of us in cricket and then hockey, Manmohan Singh’s ED as a politician and Jacqueline Fernandez’ choice of a lover. If rumours are to be believed (and there are a lot of them, with each one quoting some credible anonymous source or another), Miss Fernandez has taken on a particular Mr Khan as her preferred gentleman caller – much to the disappointment of just about anyone who wears boxers to work. It’s also rumoured that the said gentlemen caller was the reason for her passing on Krissh 3 as well as all her wardrobe choices. “What’s the point if controversial news is believed more than me,” she protests.

We meet her at a studio in Mumbai and the discussion steers towards a particular fashion magazine with a gift for making covergirls look awful, her ability to blow comically large chewing gum bubbles and her obsession with olives. “Yes I do love olives, but there seems to be some misunderstanding about it being my obsession...” she trails off.

In between shots, the conversation has moved to the protests in Delhi after the gang rape of a 23 year-old-girl. “Rape, molestation, sex crimes involve thousands of innocent people and we need to make sure that it is not our loved ones who might be the next victims. It will affect the society’s growth if the judicial system continues to not react with an iron fist,” she asserts strongly. So we ask her if she’s pro-protests. “People are out on the streets trying to protect their rights and safety,” she argues. Jacqueline however doesn’t think the answer just lies in making Indian men more sensitive to women, “More than men becoming sensitive to women, it is women who need to be educated on their rights.”

Miss Fernandez has lived in Sri Lanka (she was born and won the Miss SL crown there), Bahrain, Australia (where she studied) and now India lending her a very well rounded charm. She also loves cooking, still hangs up stockings for Santa Claus to fill on Christmas and apparently loves doing sequels – the latest one is Race 2 (she’s done the part deux for Murder 2 and Housefull 2 before this) in which she’s setting the screen on fire with élan. But there must be some pressure on her to make a mark for herself – in Murder 2 she stepped into Mallika Sherawat’s shoes while Housefull 2 was populated by Deepika Padukone and Lara Dutta – which she easily dismisses. “There’s only so much you can do as an actor. You don’t control the script or your character. You only control your performance. Do that well and people will forget to make comparisons with others.” True to what she says, her loitering on the beach in Murder 2 has already taken the place of Ms Sherawat’s bikini-clad image from the original Murder in our minds.

And if you saw the first edition of Race, you’d know it’s hardly one of those running around a tree looking pretty kind of a role, Miss Fernandez has gone ahead and got herself one of those gruelling, bruise-inducing characters.

Miss Fernandez, who is at her hottest yet, has turned into a major yoga and gymnastic nut. Surely there are easier roles out there? “Ya, but those easier roles have not come my way though I would take them happily! For Race 2, I did some crossfit with Deepesh (Bhat) and he threw in some gymnastics too, which was insane. I also upped my yoga routine to a more advanced stage,” she says.

We ask her if her character is similar to Irene Adler from Sherlock Holmes considering she does play a con-woman in the movie and she thinks about it for a bit. “It is and it isn’t”, she finally responds. “I loved her in Sherlock Holmes. In fact, she kicks ass and that’s why I love her. But my character definitely has the potential to stand out as well as she’s dark in a positive kind of way,” she says.

She shared a couple more things about her role in Race 2 all of which we’ve completely forgotten – because we’ve been unashamedly staring at her in a cutaway bikini and denim shorts. It’s the kind of image timeless pin-ups are made of. Truth be told, we’ve spent much of the shoot standing and staring (bordering on trolling) and come up with our own observations about Miss Fernandez. Firstly, she looks kickass in overalls, bikinis and military jackets. Secondly, she seems a lot taller in movies than she is in real life, which is the reason why you won’t be giving yourself a stroke or get your palms all sweaty merely at the prospect of talking to her.

We’d glean more info about her life off-screen, but of course she’s not talking about her personal life. She is also not answering questions about whether she is single or not, just to make sure you hang on to the last bit of hope, suspended safely in the space between her being available and not being available.

From the January 2013 issue of FHM India.