When Sri Lankan beauty queen Jacqueline Fernandez decided to pursue a career in Bollywood, she got all kinds of advice on how to fit in. In an interview with Pinkvilla, she revealed that a lot of people felt that her name was “very Western” and suggested that she change it.
“I was told, ‘Do a nose job’, ‘Change your name’. So many people! In that moment, I thought, ‘Is it really needed?’ I decided to just be me. I was quite calm and cool and collected about it, and then things worked out for me,” the actor said.
She added, “I was told, ‘Change your name to Muskaan.’ I remember these suggestions. My agency also thought, ‘Should we change her name? Jacqueline Fernandez is very Western. How do we crack the industry?’ Then they were like, ‘Maybe we should just go with her name and just see where that goes.’”
Jacqueline was given all kinds of “weird” advice, like being asked to make her eyebrows darker, but she stuck to her guns. She also revealed that she got a lot of grief for her accent, but has now made peace with the fact that it is a limitation for her and continues to work hard every day to improve her Hindi diction.
Not just this, Jacqueline was mocked for “trying hard” to be Indian. She said, “I felt really offended by this. I came for a Diwali party once in a really traditional outfit. Three of my actor friends were like, ‘Why are you wearing a saree? Why are you trying so hard? You are not Indian!’”
{{/usCountry}}Not just this, Jacqueline was mocked for “trying hard” to be Indian. She said, “I felt really offended by this. I came for a Diwali party once in a really traditional outfit. Three of my actor friends were like, ‘Why are you wearing a saree? Why are you trying so hard? You are not Indian!’”
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Jacqueline made her Bollywood debut with Sujoy Ghosh’s Aladin in 2009. The actor, who was last seen in the Netflix film Drive alongside Sushant Singh Rajput, has another Netflix project – Mrs Serial Killer – in her kitty. Directed by Shirish Kunder, the film will see her as a doting wife who will go to any lengths to prove the innocence of her husband, who has been framed for serial killings.
Jacqueline’s next Bollywood release is the action thriller Attack. Directed by Lakshya Raj Anand, the film revolves around a rescue operation done by an elite commando team, and also stars John Abraham.
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