When Jacqueline Was Irked About Comparisons With Mallika Sherawat: 'I'm Not Trying To Be A Sex Bomb'

When actor Jacqueline Fernandez featured in the 2011 psychological thriller Murder 2, netizens quickly began to compare her with Mallika Sherawat, who headlined the original film opposite Emraan Hashmi in 2004. She had revealed in an interview then that these comparisons bothered her. She said that she was not trying to replace Mallika as the next “sex bomb”. The famous interview often makes the rounds of the internet, like it has again on Jacqueline’s 38th birthday this Friday.

Hindustan Times quoted the actor as saying in the Rediff interview, “It bothers me when my role (in Murder 2) is getting compared to her (Mallika Sherawat). The stories are not the same and it doesn’t make any sense to make any comparisons. On a personal level I don’t have any complaints when people compare me to her. For me, Mallika Sherawat is someone who is so real and is unafraid to be herself. She speaks her mind and in an industry which is quite fake, she is someone who is completely different. She needs to be applauded for where she is today.”

“I don’t want to replace her. I am not trying to be a sex bomb or the next sexy actress on the block. I am trying to be versatile and it will reflect in the movies I’m doing or will do in future,” she added. She was also asked if she had any inhibitions while portraying “such a bold character” in Murder 2. She answered, “Actresses cannot have any inhibitions while portraying bold characters.” “A sensuous or a steamy scene can be done very aesthetically or in a way that titillates the audience,” she added.

Jacqueline Fernandez made her Bollywood debut in 2009 with Sujoy Ghosh’s Aladin opposite Riteish Deshmukh. The also featured Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt and Ratna Pathak Shah in key roles. Despite the fantasy-drama boasting a stellar cast, it did not perform well at the box office.

Since then, Jacqueline has also appeared in franchise-backed films like Housefull 2, Housefull 3, Race 2 and Judwaa 2. She also appeared in the Italian-American film anthology Tell It Like A Woman. The actor was last seen in Ranveer Singh’s Cirkus in 2022.