[30 Aug 2007]
" AZIZ AND I ARE STILL LIKE ANY OTHER BOYFRIEND AND GIRLFRIEND"
KNOWN TO ALL AS JASSI (NOT THE ONE FROM JASSI JAISI KOI NAHIN), YOU WILL BETTER REMEMBER JASVIR KAUR AS SMRITI FROM THE SUSPENSE THRILLER K. STREET PALI HILL. WHILE K STREET…WAS A STORY OF THREE FRIENDS WITH A DARK, GUARDED SECRET, JASSI IS A BUNDLE OF CHATTER. SHE NEEDS A SUM TOTAL OF 25 MINUTES TO FILL YOU IN ABOUT HER WHOLE LIFE!
HER BINDAAS AND FREE-SPIRITED OUTLOOK HAS SKY-ROCKETED HER TO POPULARITY, WITH HER NEW AVATAR IN GHAR KI LAKSHMI BETIYAAN, WHEREIN THE AUDIENCE LOVES HER AS PAVITRA, A PROSTITUTE. HER PATHWAY TO THIS UNHOLY FAME HAS BEEN SPECKLED WITH HUMBLE BEGINNINGS, DETOURS TO FILMS AND BACK AND AMIDST ALL THE DRAMA, FINDING LOVE AND GETTING MARRIED. JASSI TELLS US ALL…
Unlike other actors who often like to think of themselves as 'soap stars' and of you as 'the media', meeting Jassi was like meeting a friend after a prolonged gap. Apologising profusely for being delayed, she began talking on an easy note, all the while pleasantly smiling and warmly meeting a bunch of friends at a home gathering.
I ask her about her present role in Ghar Ki Lakshmi…and she springs in, "Initially, I had gone there to shoot for a song sequence mann saat samundar dol gaya, but then they decided that they wanted to go ahead with my character. I know the character has grey shades, but I feel it's a very positive role when you see it as a girl who comes from a kotha, and wishes to fulfil her dreams. That is how the character must be viewed."
Jassi endorses the character and treats it as a welcome change. "I have always wanted to play a negative role, as there are so many shades to explore. People really enjoy these characters. I remember the excitement and feeling of terror that would fill the atmosphere when Ramola Sikand would come on screen.
Or those times when Komolika would smile her sly-mouthed smile and in the background you would hear 'Lika'. It's so cute! When I was subsequently offered the part, I thought it would be good to try something new. I have played a lead and I know what a great feeling that is. And now I am thoroughly enjoying this."
Pavitra is a striking contrast to Jassi's role in K. Street…. From being a simple sari clad ghar ki bahu, she is now a spicy-mouthed young girl, who works as a prostitute. Jassi laughs at the irony and says, "It is a complete difference. That was a very pitiful character of a girl; you instantly felt sorry for her. She was a bechari, trying to fight for her rights, when things were beyond her control.
When I had joined K. Street…I was really nervous, as I was cast against big names like Ashwini Kalsekar, Mukul Dev and Rituraj. Sudha Chandran came in later, while I felt like a complete fresher. All that was soon forgotten, everyone was such a darling. I remember sharing one bed with 15 people, where nobody knew whose leg was on whom! It was all so adorable! I will always miss them."
She does admit to finding her bold character challenging to play. "Ghar Ki Lakshmi Betiyaan has helped me tremendously. As an almost newcomer, I was very apprehensive about entering a serial mid-way, as it had already been running for a considerable while. When you start filming a series from the beginning, then you don't face any problems.
But if you join a serial which has already begun, and then try to get in sync with the other established characters, it is a different task." Did she face any problems working with her new team? "It was very difficult for me to get into the serial's rhythm. But my co-stars, the entire unit, and people working behind the camera… everyone was truly amazing. I am now very comfortable. It feels like I have started with them."
Not many may have noticed or will recall, but Jassi has explored more than one front when it comes to performing. She has literally tried it all – from doing a little bit of modelling to background dancing in songs for Bollywood movies, to song fillers in Balaji soaps during romantic or flashy party sequences.
In a song in Ekta's movie Kucch To Hai, Jassi was spotted and subsequently offered Kya Haadsa Kya Haqeekat. She has also graced the screen in small cameos in Bollywood films, as the girl who served Shah Rukh Khan some soft drinks in Badshah, a small appearance in Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani, and even in a scene with Hrithik Roshan in Koi Mil Gaya.
Where do Jassi's interests lie? Bollywood seems to have been left behind. She admits without any qualms, about her not-so-straight route and humble beginnings. In fact, she goes a step further and reminds me, "I had forgotten about this, but I was also a part of this scene in Tera Jadoo Chal Gaya with Abhishek Bachchan, right before the song baat meri suniye toh zara."
She goes on to add, "I have always had this love for acting. I never thought I'd reach here today, nor do I know where I will be tomorrow. Dancing is one thing I have always been passionate about. I thought ki jo hoga dekha jayega. I have always lived for today. Aaj masti kar lo, kal ka kal dekhenge.
Now of course, I think a little further, and maybe look down in the pathway of movies. I admire girls, who are into movie direction. I have begun as an assistant to choreographers like Terence Lewis. Acting and dancing are things in life that you learn until you die.
Maybe in a few years, I will rejoin someone as an assistant. One more thing that I want to take up is theatre. I want to be part of a play, part of the world of theatre. As a dancer, I know what it feels like to perform on stage. I want to experience what it would be like to act on stage!"
She continues in the same vein, "At that time, television was not the way it is today. Thankfully for people like us, it has come up now.
I have always wanted to do a nice, small character in a film. I am doing a cameo in this film by B.Subhash called Jhoom. My husband, Aziz will be playing the lead in this movie, as he is being re-launched through this film. We are not sharing screen space here; it is just working together for the sake of calling it that."
Jassi has no complaints when it comes to television at the moment. However, she expresses her wish to rejoin the Balaji brigade. "It goes without saying that I would love to work with Balaji again. I am very fortunate to have had my first break through them. They did call me with offers later, certain things did not work out, but in the future I would definitely love to get back to them.
Somehow I feel like home there, it is that comfortable. I never really knew Ekta (Kapoor), except at parties or our dubbing sequences, as an acquaintance saying a curt hello. Even so, I would roam about on the sets with a feeling that 'This is my office, my house!' But they had no character in mind for which I suited the bill," she says realistically.
Apart from Ghar Ki Lakshmi…is Jassi going to be seen in other roles; other dance numbers, movie stints perhaps? "Currently, I am shooting for Maayka on Zee. I joined about three months ago and my character again is on a negative tone. I play Suhani, who is a girl of today's day and age, returning from the UK, only to find her love already married to another girl. There is a clear difference between Pavitra and Suhani.
With Suhani, every time I come on screen, the background music chimes 'Suhani' in a very teasing fashion (it has to be said with oomph and heard in full dramatic style to be believed!). It makes me feel 'Wow!' This girl's life motive is to get her love back, and in the bargain, whether she portrays any shades of grey, black or blue it doesn't matter to her!" she laughs.
Off screen, Jassi is happily married to Aziz, her previous live-in relationship that successfully turned into marriage for the couple. "We lived in for two years and that made people ask us so many questions. We even went for reality shows and things like that. Today, after a year and a half of being married, we don't feel much of a difference. We live today, in the same way that we used to; going out together, partying, we are still like any other boyfriend and girlfriend. He is the one who reminds me of that and has put it into my head.
I am a typical Indian girl, whereas Aziz comes from Dubai. He constantly urges me to be more broad-minded and tells me that things don't necessarily have to be a certain way. So it's great, it is going well. So far, so good!" she mischievously, yet contentedly laughs out. We'll keep our fingers crossed on that!
