Jacqueline Fernandez

Born                 Colombo, Sri Lanka
Nationality Sri Lankan/Malaysian
Occupation Model, Actress
Years active 2006-Present(Model),
                        2009-Present(Actress)
Parents         Elroy Fernandez
                        Kim Fernandez
Relatives         Frederica Jansz (Cousin)

Jacqueline Fernandez, born in 1985, is a Sri Lankan actress and model who appears in Bollywood films. Fernandez is a former model and beauty queen who won Miss Sri Lanka Universe in 2006. She has received an International Indian Film Academy Award for Best Female Debut and Stardust Award for Lux Exciting New Face in 2010, for her role in Aladin. She has also received the award for Bollywood's Most Stylish Actor of 2012 at The Ujala Asianet Awards 2013. She subsequently featured in several commercially successful films such as Murder 2 (2011), Housefull 2 (2012) and Race 2 (2013).

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Early life

Fernandez was born to a Sri Lankan father and a Malaysian mother. At the age of three her family, including her three siblings moved to Bahrain, where she spent most of her childhood. She moved to Australia for her college degree in Mass Communications, and then moved back to Sri Lanka where she worked in modelling, and television reporting and hosting. She speaks Arabic, Spanish, French, English, Urdu, Hindi and Sinhalese.

Career

Career beginnings (2006–10)

In March 2006, Fernandez was crowned the Miss Sri Lanka Universe 2006 and subsequently represented Sri Lanka at Miss Universe 2006 held in Los Angeles where she was unplaced. From there she began receiving offers to go to India for more modelling, and she got selected for a Bollywood film. She has worked as an anchorwoman on one of Sri Lanka's business programs called "Lanka Business Report". She also writes a weekly column for a national newspaper, the "Daily mirror". Jackie also has a non-profit organisation in Sri Lanka focusing on empowering the underprivileged. She has come in a VIP ad with Shahid Kapoor Fernandez made her acting debut in the 2009 Bollywood fantasy movie Aladin opposite Ritesh Deshmukh. She played a character inspired by the Disney Princess character of Jasmine. For her performance, Fernandez received mixed reviews, with Anupama Chopra of NDTV calling her a "plastic debutant". However, India Glitz disagreed and said, "Cherubic Jacqueline lives up to expectations and she's sure to sway with a successful endeavor ahead". Taran Adarsh of BollywoodHungama complimented her more on her looks, rather than her performance by saying, Jacqueline Fernandez gets no scope, but she looks gorgeous nonetheless. 2010 saw her once again appearing alongside Ritesh Deshmukh in the romantic comedy Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai. She also made a cameo appearance in Sajid Khan's Housefull in the song 'Dhanno' which was a big success, hence giving her positive recognition.

Breakthrough & success (2011–present)

In 2011, Fernandez appeared in her third film, Mahesh Bhatt's thriller Murder 2, which went on to become her first box office success, receiving blockbuster status. Fernandez played the role of Priya, a lonely model who is in a confused relationship with Arjun Bhagwat, played by Emraan Hashmi. Fernandez grabbed a lot of attention for the boldness and sex appeal she displayed in the movie, with her performance receiving decent reviews. OneIndia Entertainment said, "Jacqueline being bold and sexy grabs a lot of eyeballs for the oomph factor. Her performance is decent". Taran Adarsh of BollywoodHungama said, "Stepping into Mallika's shoes in the sequel is Jacqueline. Like Mallika, she takes the boldness quotient to the next level with her sexy avatar. She should grab a lot of eyeballs for the oomph factor, while her performance is decent. In fact, she gets little scope to display histrionics, but she makes a sincere attempt to portray her character with care". Murder 2 launched Fernandez's career for the good, as she started getting offers from big production houses. Post Murder 2 success, Fernandez turned down many roles, such as Raaz 3D, to avoid being type cast as a sex symbol. She also turned down a role in Krrish 3, but that was due to date conflicts. She ranked at #7 in Time's Top 50 Most Desirable Women of 2011.

In 2012, Fernandez appeared in Housefull 2, which become a major commercial success, collecting 186 crore (US$34 million) worldwide, thus receiving a super hit status at the box office. Also, Fernandez received positive reviews for her performance. Gaurav Malani of Times Of India stated, "So Jacqueline Fernandes wins the race with her gorgeous looks..." Mrigank Dhaniwala of KoiMoi said, "Of all the girls, Asin and Jacqueline Fernandez get the meatiest of roles and they do not disappoint". Taran Adarsh of BollywoodHungama gave a mixed review by saying, "Amongst the female leads, Asin has the meatiest role and gives a decent account of herself. Jacqueline, Shazahn and Zarine act more as eye candy. They are the typical sultry and enticing selves; each one is befitting in her own space".

Fernandez's first release of 2013 was Race 2, for which she received positive to mixed reviews for her performace. Lisa Tsering, of The Hollywood Reporter stated, "Miss Sri Lanka Jacqueline Fernandez, a leggy beauty with a talent for action who now counts seven Indian films under her belt, is another plus. Welcome to Bollywood, Miss Fernandez". Joginder Tuteja of Indicine mentioned, "Jacqueline has a bigger part to play and she does it well while looking her best". Roshni Devi of KoiMoi said, "Jacqueline gets a tome full of dialogues like, “You’re such a kameena” while narrowing her eyes sexily". However, Subsha K. Jha of DNAIndia gave a negative review of her performance stating, "The girls Deepika and Jacqueline try hard to pump up the steam by raising the mean quotient in their characters. They hardly look provocative enough to be convincing as femme fatales". However the film as a whole, received mixed reviews. Despite this, the film opened to a positive response at the box office, collecting 79.60 crore (US$15 million) throughout the first week.

Fernandez is next expected to appear in an item number in Prabhu Deva's Ramaiya Vasta Vaiya, Sajid Khan's Untitled Next opposite Saif Ali Khan and along with Vicky Singh's Roy opposite Ranbir Kapoor.