Spirited and cheerful as always, Jacqueline Fernandez talks about her first international project, Definition of Fear, which recently opened the Delhi International Film Festival
Jacqueline Fernandez is a bundle of energy, the kind that can spread through the entire room within minutes of her having entered it, bright eyes, infectious giggles and all. Settling down for an interview with a group of journalists, sipping happily on a tall glass of water, she talks about the experience of working in her first English film, Definition of Fear, how she has come to see India as her comfort zone, why she wants to do as much international cinema as she can and more.
Nerve Blues
“I was extremely nervous when I went to shoot for Definition of Fear in Canada last year,” she reveals as she begins to talk about the James Simpson-directed thriller, which was also unveiled as the opening film at the Delhi International Film Festival recently. “I’m very used to being in India now, and to working with actors and directors I’m comfortable with because I know them already. When I went for this movie, I was really anxious about how I’ll do. And then I told myself that as an actor, you need to keep taking risks. That’s what keeps you excited yourself, and also keeps you exciting for the audience so that you never begin to bore them. So, I decided to get out of my comfort zone and give this my best shot. It turned out to be an amazing experience. I’m playing a student of psychology in the film and this is the first time that I’m doing a thriller. Also, I was working with people completely unknown to me. And I enjoyed every minute of it,” she shares.
The former beauty pageant winner adds that of all the things she had anticipated might require concentrated effort from her to overcome, one struggle that surprised her was with the language. “You know, this will sound really funny, but I’m so used to shooting in Hindi that shooting in English took a while to get used to. English is my first language but when I started shooting for Definition of Fear, I actually had trouble with my lines! It was so weird, because I never have trouble with my lines in Hindi! I started getting really worried at one point but then I got used to it and realised that even this really helped me as an actor. The entire process of making this film was like a form of training for me,” she affirms with a smile.
Director's actress Definition of Fear will have Jacky donning shades of gray for the first time, something the actress is also excited about. Ask her how she went about approaching a role that requires her to play out something that doesn’t come naturally to her and she says, “A lot of people have reference points for roles like this, but I just went into it completely blank, thinking that my director will tell me what to do and how to do it. Organically, I just focused on imagining what I’d be feeling at that time, in those situations, if I were in her place. If I needed to be scheming, or be possessed, what would I be going through at that exact moment – I just kept trying to play that out as well as I could. I let my director guide me. I am a director’s actress in general — I depend a lot on them. They tell me what to do and like a robot, I can do it!” Festival Premiere Ask the actress how she responds to the fact that a lot of India’s interest in Definition of Fear rests primarily on her shoulders and she says with a nod, “It is a bit daunting that it rests on me. That’s why I think festivals like DIFF are so great. This is an independent film, and festivals like this are able to give films like it some kind of platform to be seen, noticed and watched. I’m excited to be on board also because I know that I can help in some way to get this film the kind of release and attention it deserves in India too. It’s truly different from what I’m used to doing and from what people are used to seeing me do, so I really hope it gets a good response.”
International waters While Jacqueline clarifies that there are no more Hollywood projects in the pipeline at the moment, she views this film as a great means to create a showreel of sorts, for more international filmmakers to see what she can do. “This film is a great platform for me to showcase my work to the international eye. And I do definitely want to be a part of international films, not even necessarily just Hollywood. I’d absolutely love to do anything from French cinema to even Chinese cinema. I think it could be amazing if I got to go around the world and see how filmmaking is carried out differently in different countries, and how stories are told differently within different cultures. Coming to India was alien to me too, once upon a time, but I’ve learnt so much here about how Indian films are made. Other cinemas could teach me more along the same lines,” she avers and adds, “Right now, the world is becoming so small — in terms of cinema too, we have people from India being jury members at Cannes, we have people from Hollywood coming to India and casting people for their projects and within such a scenario, I just want to keep my horizons open.”
