Jackie Oh!

Unapologetic and empowered,JACQUELIENE FERNANDEZ is ready to take on 2025 with renewed vigour. The actor opens up about learnings, and unlearnings in a freewheeling chat with Karen Alfonso

- Karen Alfonso

Jacqueline Fernandez has a face card that doesn't decline. With cheekbones that could cut glass and features a Disney princess would be proud of, it's no wonder her first-ever film role in Bollywood was as Princess Jasmine in Aladin (2009). But Jacqueliene is more than just that. She boasts an impressive resume that showcases her versatility as an actor – whether it is her action-packed role in Kick (2014) opposite Salman Khan, her impeccable comic timing in Housefull 3 (2015), or her beguiling vulnerability in Roy (2015).

Adding to her appearances in music videos, dance cameos and a stint as a judge on Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa, this year Jacqueliene also decided to flex her singing skills, making her debut with Stormrider, a single she collaborated on with LA-based record label Myst Music. The song has already amassed 8.4 million views on YouTube, bearing testimony to her immense popularity among her fans.

Walking into our cover shoot, she's disarmingly easygoing and fun – even doing a headstand in heels multiple times, holding each pose for over two minutes. Never losing her smile – the woman is a trooper! It's easy to see that she loves the camera. And that it loves her right back. As we trace her evolution from ingénue to superstar, Jacqueliene shares unexpected truths about life, her take on living, her newfound success as a singer, and her expectations of the year to come...

Tell us a little about growing up in Bahrain and coming home to India?