'I am not seeing Salman Khan'

'I am grateful to be on screen with Salman. I don’t know how I managed to actually work with him because he is such a big superstar.'

Jacqueline Fernandez is quite Kick-ed about her new film!

"Salman has gifted me the movie of my lifetime!" Jacqueline Fernandez exclaims during an interview about her upcoming film, Kick, opposite the superstar.

And she cannot stop gushing about him.

But, she clarifies, they are not seeing each other, as rumours proclaim.

Jacqueline reveals the truth behind their relationship in this conversation with Patcy N.

Why is everyone asking you about a three-bedroom apartment?

I was just telling my secretary that no one has asked me about it today!

People like to come to conclusions because Salman is very generous, and he tends to gift people things. But to think of an apartment was absurd.

There are always rumours about all Salman’s co-stars and they end there (laughs).

So what has he gifted you?

Salman has gifted me the movie of my lifetime.

.

Where do you live? In a rented apartment?

I stay in a rented apartment. I am saving to buy a house. I should be able to buy one next year.

Moving to Mumbai and living on my own has been an adjustment. When you live on your own, there is a lot of responsibility and bills and stress.

You have to look at a hundred things besides your career. But I love living on my own.

You have been linked with Salman Khan. What do you have to say about that?

Am I? No, I am not seeing Salman Khan.

Have you seen the Telugu film Kick? How different is your role from Illeana D’Cruz’s role?

No, I haven’t watched the original version of Kick.

I was given a narration of the film and did not feel the need to see the original version.

I have been given my character and the script and the story and I did not want to be distracted or confused by another person’s character.

Chetan (Bhagat) who has written the screenplay of the Hindi version told me there have been a lot of changes in my role and also in the movie, mainly the climax.

There were many other actresses considered for this role -- Deepika, Sonakshi, and Priyanka. How did you bag the role?

Your guess is as good as mine; I had no idea that I would be offered a movie like Kick.

Kick was such a big movie because of Salman Khan and Sajid Nadiadwala directing it that I thought they would only settle for an A list actress.

When I was called to Nadiad’s office to be the lead opposite Salman I was extremely shocked and confused.

I kept on telling Salman and Nadiad how lucky I was, and I am not a person who believes in luck.

Nadiad told me, ‘I have worked with you before and I know how hard you work and that’s what is important.’

Salman has seen my graph in the industry and he appreciates hardworking people.

How is Salman as a co-star?

As a co-star, honestly, he is just an actor. When he comes on the sets, he is a very normal, simple guy who will rehearse his lines with you.

He will be very respectful to his director. He calls his director ‘sir’.

He does retakes; he makes sure his shot is good.

He is very patient with his co-star, even if it means giving lots of retakes.

Off the sets how is Salman?

He is a very simple person.

He has a big table outside his vanity van so that everyone can sit together and enjoy and be one.

He offers everyone food. He is always offering everyone chai and green tea. That’s the beauty of him. He is such a giver to everyone around him.

He is a very warm person.

How was it romancing Salman?

He has such a great positive energy. It is very easy to work with him.

You have a great time doing so and you never feel out of place any time. You never feel awkward any time. That creates amazing chemistry between two characters.

I am grateful to be on screen with Salman. I don’t know how I managed to actually work with him because he is such a big superstar.

With him in the movie, how much screen time will you get? In Dabangg, Sonakshi Sinha hardly had any dialogues.

Hmmm, but she was still noticed.

It is not Salman’s fault. Salman is such a big presence. Even if he does a cameo, it’s a big presence.

It is the fault of the actor or the actress if they don’t make themselves known and if they don’t do a good job and if they don’t work on their characters.

You could be given a parallel role next to Salman and if you are not performing you can easily go unnoticed.

You have to give a really good performance and work hard on your character, your role in the movie.

Tell us about the character you portray in the film.

I play a psychology student from Delhi. She has a normal life. She comes from a good family.

She meets a person called Devi, played by Salman, who changes her entire life.

Salman Khan’s character is endlessly looking to get a kick from everyday life experiences.

My character, Shaina, doesn’t understand this kind of behaviour. She feels he should see a psychiatrist because there is something wrong with him.

But in the end he teaches her lots of things that she was not aware of, and that is their love angle.

Kick is Sajid Nadiadwala’s first film as director. What was he like to work with?

Nadiad has been part of the industry for long and he understands many things about films like nobody else can.

He has worked with actors (as a producer) on so many movies, he understands actors very well.

I am a director’s actor. I need a very good director to help me perform. If I got stuck, he quickly understood that and helped me out.

Salman is very spontaneous. He just needs to let him be and let him do whatever he wants to and it really worked.

You have opened a restaurant in Sri Lanka. When are you planning to open one in India?

I launched my restaurant a few days ago.

It’s been my dream to start one. My restaurant is about traditional Sri Lankan food which is the cuisine that I have grown up on, and I am very fond of it.

I thought of opening a restaurant in Colombo because tourists don’t have that one place where they can go to enjoy the Sri Lankan experience.

Now that I have ventured into the restaurant business I am hoping that I can take Sri Lankan cuisine around the world, including India.

I heard that you want to work in a Sri Lankan film, so what are your plans?

I have worked in one Sri Lankan movie so far. We shot that last year and it will release next year

The movie is called According to Mathew. It is based on a true incident that took place in Sri Lanka.

I want to do films in Sri Lanka that have extremely strong scripts. There are amazing technicians in Sri Lanka with whom I have worked on several occasions for ads.

What is According to Matthew about?

It is set in the 1970s and is about a priest, Father Matthew, who was the most revered and respected priest in the country. People would come from all over to listen to his sermons.

He actually was a very disturbed man; he was a psychopath, a mass murderer. No one suspected him because he was such a well-known priest.

He had studied medicine so he found a way to kill people with insulin and no one would ever know that he was the murderer.

My character is a real life character too. Father Matthew had an obsession for her so he helped her with her work and brought her and her husband into his house and later murdered her husband.

Everyone in Sri Lanka knows about the Father Matthew’s murders.

Tell us about your forthcoming films, Roy and Bangistan?

I am doing a cameo in Bangistan. It’s an extraordinary script, it’s hilarious.

It is directed by Karan Anshuman. I was his biggest fan when he was a film critic in Mumbai Mirror.

Roy is my first double role in a movie. That is very cool.

I am getting to work with Ranbir Kapoor. I am excited about both the projects