Of politics and love

Jackky Bhagnani and Neha Sharma were in Dubai at the weekend to promote their forthcoming film Youngistaan.

JACKKY BHAGNANI AND Neha Sharma dropped into Dubai to promote their film Youngistaan on Thursday, and in true Bollywood style tested the patience of the waiting media when they turned up around two and half hours late at the Jumeirah Creekside Hotel.

Jackky and Neha have seen moderate success so far in their careers. Jackky started his career in 2009 with Kal Kisne Dekha and amongst four films that he has done, only Faaltu (2011) has seen surprise success at the box office. While talking about Youngistaan, which is based on the life of a young Prime Minister, the actor sounded modest when he said he does not mind trying his hand at politics but first he would like to be a decent actor. Neha started her career in 2007 and has acted in seven films so far, the most notable being the semi-hit Kya Super Kool Hai Hum.

In Youngistaan, Jackky plays a character who is 28 years old and becomes the youngest Prime Minister of India. The movie focuses a lot on his personal side. Neha Sharma plays his girlfriend in the movie. The film starts with the couple’s life in Japan but destiny brings them to Delhi.

While speaking to City Times, Jackky said, “First I was taken by surprise with the idea of playing a Prime Minister who is having a live-in relationship but I felt later if anyone has to do this role, it has to be me because it is a highly progressive and evolved idea. We are just trying to tell you in big block letters that India is ready for change. Films and cricket are almost like a religion so we are showing you an aspirational kind of a situation.”

Neha Sharma added, “How a young and normal couple who are completely in love are thrown into a situation is the beauty of the film because he is not a seasoned politician and she is not a girl who is planning to be politician’s wife or support system or politician herself so we do not have any of that in our characters. This is a story about how a girl is thrown into a situation and how she copes with it.”

There was a huge poster of this film in the room where the interview was being held. Describing the poster, Neha said, “Both of us are visiting the Taj Mahal in Agra; in the film, he had promised me whenever I go to the Taj Mahal he will be there with me for my first visit and he kept his promise.”

Jackky added, “According to the constitution, whenever the Prime Minister or the President or any leader of any comes to the Taj Mahal, it is shut for the general public. After I become the Prime Minister, I kept my promise and took her to the Taj Mahal.”

The actor has constantly denied the similarity between his character and Indian politician Rahul Gandhi but he did shock us a bit by saying, “In this character, you will see a lot of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Rajiv Gandhi, Barack Obama, Rahul Gandhi, Arvind Kejriwal and many other politicians. Currently we see Indian politicians playing blame games but he (my character) is a leader who is very positive and visionary.”

The actors shared why being in Dubai is always special for them. “It is the biggest overseas market for Hindi films. It feels great, people are warm and being a multicultural hub you find everything from food to shopping to night life and great weather,” said Jackky.

Neha added, “Every time I am in Dubai I am in love with the place all over again. It’s like London, you have people from all over the world. It is nice talking to people from Pakistan and India and various parts of the world.”

Youngistaan was late actor Farooque Shaikh’s last film. The film’s producer Vashu Bhagnani (Jackky’s father), who spoke to City Times during his last visit to Dubai, had fondly remembered Shaikh, saying, “It is unfortunate that he is not amongst us today but we had the honour of working with him. He was a kind man. He was the first actor in my career who would bring so much food for the entire unit. He really wanted Jackky to eat all those nice dishes but since Jackky was on a diet all the time, Farooque had told him that he will invite Jackky to his house in Mumbai and cook special diet food for him.”