Good things happen to those who wait

Actress Jacqueline Fernandez has been patient in giving her career a proper kickstart. Now seems to be the perfect time. Go play, girl!

Patience pays. Or at least it has in the case of Jacqueline Fernandez, who subsisted on the margins of movie-dom for as many as seven years. Today, she's in our drawing rooms on weekends as one of the three jurors - alongside Karan Johar and choreographer Ganesh Hegde - of the top-TRP rated reality dance show, Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa. She's taken over the seat once allocated to Madhuri Dixit and then Shahid Kapoor.
A former model and TV reporter, the 32-year-old Jacqueline, aka Jackie, is quite an unusual suspect who has, after a long grind, made it in the charmed circle of heroines.
Unusual, because she was born to a father and mother of Sri Lankan and Malaysian descent, and still seems to have issues with her dialogue delivery in Hindi. Matters not obviously, since leading ladies with a singsong English diction have been accepted by worldwide audiences of Bollywood movies - be it Katrina Kaif or Nargis Fakhri, to cite just two examples. And, of course, before them, Zeenat Aman and Parveen Babi had set the trend for heroines who had an inclusive Westernised personality, liberated from the clichés associated with the typical, subservient Bharatiya nari (Indian woman).
Slowly but surely, the woman's status on the screen has gone way beyond the sari-wrapped, suffer-in-silence image which was most glaringly epitomised by such movie titles as Main Chup Rahungi (I Will Remain Silent).
Hence, Katrina, Nargis, Jacqueline and the favourite poster girl of the campus crowd, Alia Bhatt, can wear designer brands from Europe and America, without demurring. Simultaneously, they're outfitted in saris and salwar kameezes to convey that, despite their cool quotient, they're equally at home in traditional attire. Evidently, here's a reflection of the times which calls for a liberation from corsets and Victorian-era costumes.
This may be a token change but it's an important one. How you wish, simultaneously, the women were allowed to be centre-points of more films. Jacqueline still has to find that one big break - a film which places her at the pivot of the storyline. She still has to get opportunities of the kind given in recent years to Kangana Ranaut, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan,  Priyanka Chopra and Kareena Kapoor.
For that, Jacqueline will have to wait, obviously. Thus far though, she was allocated sufficient footage and significance in a series of films, ranging from Kick with Salman Khan, Roy with Ranbir Kapoor and Arjun Rampal and, to a degree, even in the actioner Dishoom in the company of John Abraham and Varun Dhawan, proving that besides being adept at the mandatory club dances, she can be a reasonably efficient actress.
Compare the Jacqueline of these films to the heroine of her early days: the tacky fantasy Aladin where the focus rested on Amitabh Bachchan and Riteish Deshmukh essentially. Or her participation in Housefull 2 and Housefull 3, the comedy franchise which is as ridiculous as they come.
If she had merely sobbed and stumbled in the mystery thriller Murder 2, opposite Emraan Hashmi, well, such projects are a must to find a toehold in show business. The film clicked, and some of the success rubbed off on her. The colossal flopping of Aladin was immediately forgotten and forgiven.
Needless to emphasise, the actress has to sustain an image in the public mind. Presently, her interviews in the media indicate that she's grounded and affable, except when it comes to discussing her break-ups - first with the Bahrain prince Hassan Bin Rashid Al Khalifa and then with comic actor and filmmaker Sajid Khan. No unpleasant questions allowed.
Similarly, she appears to lack a killer instinct when it comes to signing up new projects. Currently, she only has A Flying Jatt with Tiger Shroff and an English-language film titled According to Matthew, based on a true-life double murder case in Colombo.
Like it or not, it's the opportune time for Jacqueline to make a big go of her career. She has been seen, of late, on the cover of practically every glossy magazine. She's being pursued to endorse high-end consumer products. Unarguably, Jackie has arrived on the scene. With a little bit of luck and career stealth, who knows? She could knock out a long innings.
wknd@khaleejtimes.com

Setting a new bar
Alia Bhatt retains her wide-eyed innocence while enacting roles that need her to go off the beaten track. Films like the gritty Highway (that drew on the unlikely Stockholm syndrome), and the unconventional Kapoor & Sons and Udta Punjab, somehow overshadowed the more straitjacketed Student of the Year.
Katrina Kaif has survived the long haul despite her Anglicised accent and Westernised style. The characters she plays on screen - even in tear-jerkers like Jab Tak Hai Jaan - are way too animated and bubbly for typical Bollywood audiences, who prefer their heroines far more subdued and demure. Kat has emerged as one of the most bankable stars of late despite her inclination to take on roles that project women who know their mind... and are not afraid to speak it!
Nargis Fakhri seemed to be a write-off when she first arrived in Bollywood. Not only did she appear 'too American' (diction, mannerisms), the role she played in Rockstar was also a tad too unorthodox. But she sailed through, winning over masses and critics. And followed it up with the much-lauded Madras Cafe.
Parveen Babi was one of the rare actresses in the 70s and 80s who dared to be different. The first Indian movie star to be featured on the Time magazine cover, she wore Western clothes, danced to Western tunes and mostly spoke her mind.
Zeenat Aman had no qualms smoking pot in Hare Rama Hare Krishna, cavorting around in a bikini in Heera Panna and Qurbani or taking on the bad boys in Don (in boy-cut hair). She redefined what Bollywood actresses stood for in the 70s.