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FILM INTERVIEW: JACQUELINE FERNANDEZ

Actress Says ‘Murder 2’ Delivers to Audiences Without Crossing the Line

By: Simran Mody

July 11, 2011

Jacqueline Fernandez in 'Murder 2' on buzzinebollywood.com The producer of Mohit Suri’s erotic thriller, Murder 2, promised audiences it would be better than Murder. Film star Jacqueline Fernandez backed up Mukesh Bhatt’s bold promise, agreeing that the film, which also stars Emraan Hashmi, would definitely push the envelope. Releasing opposite Chillar Party last week, just days after Aamir Khan’s Delhi Belly took audiences by storm, Murder 2 opened with a decent box office draw, earning Rs.22 crore (about $5 million).

Whether audiences felt like expectations were met will still be played out throughout the film’s second week of release, but at least Ms. Fernandez is vouching for her producer’s bold statements.

“Trust me, this is indeed the case. They (the producers), along with Emraan and Mohit, have definitely pushed the limits here, in terms of the characters and the situations that have been created,” Ms. Fernandez told the India media from London, where she was filming Housefull 2. “You can’t even imagine what’s up in stores with Murder 2, which has ample scenes that would leave audiences totally shocked. There are things in the film which people would not just take home, but also remember for years to come.”

Certainly, quite a few fans have already seen Murder 2 and have witnessed whether, as Ms. Fernandez so eloquently put it, the film has elements which they will “remember for years to come.” The question is whether Messrs. Suri and Bhatt truly had their fingers on the pulse to determine just how far they could push the envelope without alienating or turning off moviegoers.

“Mohit (Suri) isn’t someone who has just started a career. He has directed half a dozen films in the past. He knows what he is saying, and has the right sensibilities and aesthetics in place,” Ms. Fernandez told the press. “He was quite sure about how he wanted to portray things on screen, and never once did he ask me to do anything for the camera about which I was overtly uncomfortable with. We were all a set of mature individuals doing what suited the genre and the setting of the film best.”

And the best is what Ms. Fernandez believes Bollywood film fans will be getting with Murder 2. Indeed, she believes the Murder franchise will be fully engrained as one of Bollywood’s best once the sequel to the 2004 original hits.

“Murder is a huge brand name to be associated with, and thank goodness I didn’t turn it down, wondering if I would justify the so-called risqué content. It has been an extremely difficult role, but I am glad I did it,” Ms. Fernandez told the press. “What makes me most excited about the film is that I am not enacting the part of a glamorous looking doll here.”

All that non-glamour was on display last weekend and will continue on as such into the next. If the box office reception continues to do well, no doubt both Ms. Fernandez and the producers were onto something with Murder 2, which is now playing.