It all started on Saturday afternoon when Team MissMalini was having a little fun with Amruta Khatavkar‘s new celebrity crush, Jackky Bhagnani. MissMalini decided to do one of her awesome blurbs for Amruta, which was eventually tweeted and resulted in Jackky sending a hug and kiss for the team (yay!). So of course Amruta was all over the moon, and as luck would have it, literally five minutes later we got a message that Jackky was doing a round of interviews for Rangrezz. Of course we had to go (Amruta even wore her special lips ring as a thank you for the kiss *lol*), and we came back wtih all the deets from him about the upcoming film. Watch – or read – the interview to know just how adorable he is and why he’s now the latest ‘It’ boy in the MM office!
Team MissMalini (Team MM): What is Rangrezz about?
Jackky Bhagnani (JB): My upcoming film Rangrezz is about friendship, it’s about love, it’s about helping a friend get his or her love. I think it’s a very common story that happens everywhere in our country today. It can be Meerut, it can be Mumbai, it can be Mangalore. A friend calls you and says he’s in trouble, and you leave everything aside and you go out there to help. I think that’s what a true hero or heroine is in real life. We’ve never seen a film on this, we’ve generally seen a film on friendship and love stories, but never on that particular friend who leaves everything aside to go help a friend. So ya everyone says “What’s different about your film?” and I think this time we’ve done something different.
Team MM: Tell us about your character.
JB: My character is about that cupid, that catalyst, who leaves everything aside and goes out there to fill colour in his friends’ lives, and what happens to him… that’s why it’s called Rangrezz. Every group has that one guy or girl who’s the jaan of the group, who’s the Rangrezz of the group. You can go with your friends and your family, and the good thing is that unlike FALTU, you don’t have to be young to enjoy this film. You can be 50 years old and you’ll feel like, I’ve done that for a friend. So yes it’s a story about youngsters – it can also be called FALTU 2 – but it’s going to appeal to people of all ages.
Team MM: What preps did you have to do for this role?
JB: It was difficult, man, I can’t tell you. It was very difficult because as you know, I’m known for being so-and-so’s son, and for having fancy things around me. But at heart I’m a very simple person. If you ask me, I’d rather go to a dhaba or Bade Miyan or roadwallahs in Bandra, where I come from, rather than going to a 5 star. I always fight with my friends, I say yaar yeh sajh dhaj ke hum restaurant kyun jaa rahe hai? Sajh dhaj ke hum club mein chalte hai, shaadi mein chalte hai… you know, I don’t understand. So I just wanted that real side to come out. Plus, I think it’s high time I did a role where people take me more seriously as an actor, rather than just someone who can dance well, look good and is just fancy.
Team MM: What was it like working with Priya Anand?
JB: It was good fun. I’m a very hyper person, but she used to out-do me. She’s a mad girl. You have to slap her and be like, “Priya, okay, enough, we have to shoot.” She’s good fun. You’ll see the chemistry in the film. She’s amazing, talented, a very good actress… she’s busy nowadays, unfortunately, or she’d be here to answer that question.
Team MM: Why did you decide to do the Gangnam Style?
JB: Wherever I went in the world, whether it was India, Thailand, America, anywhere – everyone was dancing on this song. So I just felt this song has united the whole world and no matter what a bad mood you’re in, this song cheers you up. My character in the film is someone who fills colour in people’s lives, makes people smile, goes out of his way for people. That’s how the idea came, if we can get this song and shoot it in a desi way… it took me 3 months, I finally cracked it. It was the first big gift from me to my dad and I’m quite happy he liked it. I didn’t want to dance too much because I think people know I can dance… I wanted Gangnam to be something where everyone can dance.
Team MM: If you could do Gangnam with anyone in Bollywood, who would it be?
JB: If it’s amongst any heroine, I would want to do it with Kareena Kapoor. I think she’d kill it. And with an actor… I think I’d want to do it with Salman Khan.
Team MM: Tell us one funny incident that happened on sets.
JB: There was this crying scene where we’re howling, crying, this and that. Priya Anand was the actress, she was also doing the whole drama. Suddenly Priyan sir said “cut it” and she went into this whole Koli dancing from no where. Then Priyan said “one more” and we were all in splits just looking at her. It was very difficult for us, we got fired also… there were a lot of moments actually. Gangnam was full of moments… I think you should ask other people if I was funny because I was the nautanki on sets.
Team MM: There’s been a lot of talk about stars quitting Twitter due to critical people. How do you deal with them?
JB: I get a lot of MC BCs on Twitter, all the FUs and all that drama. I’m from the young generation, I can’t afford to shy away from the medium, because it’s the truth. I have to move with time, if I don’t, the youngesters won’t look at me as an idol or respect me. Yes there are people who come around and say you’re not good, but my job is to convince them that I am. I’m exactly doing that. Ya there are some people who are frustrated, who even though you convince them, they still want to come back at you… that’s just 1-2%, I don’t have to worry about them. Generally I’ve seen, if people are not too fond of you and you interact with them, they turn around and start liking you.
Team MM: And finally, we know you’ve been super busy with promotions – but what do you do to relax?
JB: You know, of late, it’s been a little rushed because I’m doing a lot of digital marketing, and trying to get the Gangnam rights, stuff like that. But if I have free time, I like to chill with my friends, go out dancing to a nice club. I don’t drink too much because my trainer is very strict. But I still like to go out, have a good time with friends. Go to healthy places, so they can have their fatty stuff and I can have my healthy stuff. But I like to do normal things with friends, friends are very important.
We loved his shirt, of course, and in particular the pose he struck when we asked if we could take a picture of it! And then of course we had to ensure we got a picture as well! 🙂
Pix: Yogen Shah for MissMalini.