Best compliment to be called a commercial heroine: Jacqueline

By Durga Chakravarty

New Delhi, Dec 20 (IANS) She made her Bollywood debut in 2009 with "Aladin" and has been on a roll in Hindi filmdom ever since. Sri Lankan beauty Jacqueline Fernandez has no qualms of being called a "commercial heroine" and says it is the best compliment she's received.

"That would be the best compliment I could get. I think commercial cinema is really amazing. There is a reason why they encash as much at the box-office -- because people really enjoy watching such films," Jacqueline told IANS over phone from Mumbai.

"I consider myself an entertainer. If I can make someone laugh, cry... or entertain (them)... that is very fulfilling for me. So if you brand me like that, then I would be very happy because that's what exactly I want," said the actress, who has featured in entertainers like "Housefull", "Race 2", "Kick", "Dishoom" and "Judwaa 2" among many others.

Talking about doing socially-relevant films or content-driven cinema, she said: "Commercial cinema can be anything (socially relevant or content driven). If you do not have the content for commercial cinema it won't work and people won't buy into it; so you can't negate commercial cinema saying that it can't be based on content or social causes because most of them are."

The actress, 32, said that the only way "commercial cinema can work is if the content is very strong".

Jacqueline, who is co-owner of Delhi Heroes in MTV's Super Fight League, is ecstatic on completing eight years in Bollywood and says there is still a long way to go.

"Well, it's getting better and better, which is all that you can really hope for. There is still a long way to go. It actually gives me a lot of happiness because I enjoy doing what I am doing... There are so many experiences to enjoy," she said.

The actress, who was the winner of the 2006 Miss Universe Sri Lanka pageant, describes Bollywood as her "first love".

Even though the "Bangistan" star has been in showbiz for so long, she has always been open about whatever she does.

"I have been someone who has pretty much always been open about whatever I do and if you want to guard it (personal space) then it's completely your prerogative and people should respect it and understand that," she said.

But she added that it's not necessary that a celebrity needs to open up about everything.

"You should be able to set those standards for yourself with things you are comfortable opening up about, and it's not necessary that you as a celebrity should open up about everything because you are a human being as well. But at the same time people should respect what one individual feels to safeguard," she said.

Currently, Jacqueline has two films in her kitty -- "Drive" with Sushant Singh Rajput and "Race 3" starring Salman Khan.

(Durga Chakravarty can be contacted at durga.c@ians.in)