Not just a sex symbol, says Jacqueline

Jacqueline Fernandes admits being signed on for Murder 2 helped revive her career. She wants you to ignore her bikini body and sexy dance number in Murder 2, and focus on her acting instead.

Jacqueline Fernandes admits being signed on for Murder 2 helped revive her career. “I had only done demure roles before this and people didn’t expect me to sign a bold film like this. After I announced Murder 2, filmmakers started to take notice of me,” she says, recalling how she was offered Sajid Khan’s Housefull 2 shortly after her movie with Emraan Hashmi was announced.

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Though the actor is happy to dance a sexy item number and sport a bikini in the sequel - the original Murder (2004) helped lead actor Mallika Sherawat shoot to skin-show stardom and sealed Emraan’s reputation as Bollywood’s serial kisser- she claims to be unhappy with the film’s publicity strategy. She says, “I am disappointed and annoyed that people only want to talk about bold scenes. Why is there such an emphasis on how much skin is being shown and how many intimate scenes we have? Too much of a deal is being made out it,” she complains. “Emraan and I play a couple and there is a certain chemistry that is needed to make the relationship believable. But I’m not trying to match the first Murder’s standards.”

She may not be trying to outdo Mallika, but Jacqueline isn’t selling herself short on the bikini scenes either. “I worked out to look slim and healthy as many other actors do and not just to fit into the bikini,” she insists.

Keen to draw attention to her body of work, rather than just her body, the actor reveals that her role requires her to tap into emotions she hasn’t explored before on screen. She admits, "There is anger, desperation, misery, sadness and different emotions. The film shows the struggle and despair of a few student characters and I am one of them. It’s about certain killings that are happening in Goa, and I get dragged into it because Emraan’s character is involved."

On the subject of her next project, Housefull 2, Jacqueline emphasises, “I have been waiting to do a film like Sajid’s. I am paired opposite John Abraham in Housefull 2. It will be refreshing.”