What are the chances that a leading lady in a testosterone-charged action film isn’t reduced to an accessory?
The odds are slim, but Dishoom won’t fall into that patriarchal trap, promises its star, Jacqueline Fernandez. In Dishoom, starring Bollywood actors John Abraham and Varun Dhawan out in the UAE this Thursday, the Sri Lankan native plays a swashbuckling action heroine.
“I am in a different avatar … My character, Ishika, is rebellious, strong and fearless,” said Fernandez in an interview over the phone with tabloid!.
Fernandez and the Dishoom crew spent several weeks in Abu Dhabi filming its major action sequences.
Hanging off a helicopter, jumping from a monstrous four-wheel drive to another vehicle and navigating the desert on a dirt bike was all in a day’s work for the cast.
“You can’t pick a fight with Ishika because she will stand up to it and she will beat you right back. So even with the two boys — John and Varun — she’s an equal. And they don’t dare mess with her. She’s a wild one,” said Fernandez.
Directed by Dhawan’s brother Rahul Dhawan, Dishoom is about two police officers on a mission to track down a high-profile cricketer who has been kidnapped before a crucial India-Pakistan match.
The UAE’s capital is featured as an undisclosed location in the Arab world when their hunt for the missing sportsman brings them to the region.
The stakes are high and the police have limited time to find him. Enter Fernandez, who can help them crack the case.
“The cool thing about the character is that the boys need her and they need her expertise. She knows her way around here and they need her help to solve this kidnapping crime. There’s a missing piece to the puzzle and she’s helping them figure things out. I am getting to be their accomplice … I am one of the guys,” said Fernandez.
According to the brief given by the director, Fernandez was asked to use her “badass skills and kick some ass”.
“From day one, he said ‘I need you to be a guy. Think like a guy, be like a guy. You are this strong, sexy, beautiful woman, but that shouldn’t hold you back from anything,’” said Fernandez.
So would that mean that she should use her sexuality generously? The trailers show Fernandez using her sensuality to get her way around. She doesn’t shy away from straddling the grim, nicotine-addled Abraham or shirk from flirting with the inexperienced policeman played by Dhawan.
Dancing in short dresses with guns in her hands also seems to be a part of her job description.
“That’s a part of her character. She has grey shades to her. She knows what her assets are as a woman, she knows when she needs to use it and how she needs to use it … They are on a serious mission and when it comes to getting stuff out of people, she’s not afraid to cross the limits and cross the boundaries,” said Fernandez, who counts Angelina Jolie as the best on-screen spy.
But Ishika isn’t anything like her real self, she insists.
“Honestly, I am just the opposite of that. I am not someone who will use my sexuality … I wouldn’t know how to. But these characters are so much fun to do, because you they allow your alter ego to come out.”
Fernandez, who has acted in blockbusters including Kick and Race 2, is gaining a foothold in Bollywood, but has to deal with haters who question her ability to act.
“Haters are a part and parcel of life. There will be people who aren’t happy with your success. They often wish they enjoyed that success. But we have worked very hard for it. Haters aren’t willing to work for anything. They are the ones who are sitting down there and you are the one who is moving up in life.”
What about working alongside one of Bollywood’s hottest actors, Abraham (sorry girls, he’s married) or the eligible bachelor Varun Dhawan?
“The funniest things was that I was attracted to them, until I started working with them. Then, there was a distinct change. Suddenly, you become this professional and worry about team work … Nobody becomes sexy while shooting for a film, because we see the worst of each other.”
Don’t miss it!
Dishoom is out in the UAE on Thursday.
