Bollywood actress Nargis Fakhri reveals how she bagged ‘Rockstar’

Actress Nargis Fakhri revealed that it was an ad campaign she shot for in Greece that helped her bag the 2011 blockbuster film “Rockstar” starring Ranbir Kapoor. Nargis was chatting with filmmaker Farah Khan, who had invited the actress to her home to cook for her YouTube channel. In the vlog, Nargis cooked a quick and healthy vegetable stir fry. Farah asked Nargis which country she came from when she was in “Rockstar” directed by Imtiaz Ali.

“I was in... at that time I was living in Denmark, Copenhagen,” said Nargis.

Farah then questioned: “How did they discover you?”

To which, Nargis replied saying an “E-mail”.

Nargis said: “When I lived in Greece. I was a model and I got one job for a jewelry campaign. So, as a model we don’t know where the ads are going. They just say you are hired, they pay us and we do the job.” Crediting luck, she added: “I think they (makers) were looking for me because of the posters so they got my Email address from the Indian production company that did the shoot. So its kismat.” “Rockstar” is a musical romantic drama. It also stars Aditi Rao Hydari, Piyush Mishra, Shernaz Patel, Kumud Mishra, Sanjana Sanghi, Aakash Dahiya and Shammi Kapoor. The soundtrack was composed by A. R. Rahman. The film marks the posthumous screen appearance of Shammi Kapoor, following his death on 14 August 2011. On the day of release, Tibetans in Chennai and Kangra protested against the Central Board of Film Certification, which asked the film-makers to censor scenes featuring the Tibetan flag.

The film told the story of a college student Janardhan, who is a simpleton who desperately seeks inspiration for the musician inside him. Although heartbreak helps him reach his goal, it also leads him to self-destruction.

Fakhri was born on October 20, 1979, in Queens, New York City, to Mohammed Fakhri, and Marie Fakhri, a former police officer. Her father is Pakistani, and her mother is Czech. She has one younger sister, Aliya. Fakhri’s parents divorced when she was six, and her father died a few years later. Because of her mixed Pakistani-Czech ethnicity and American nationality, Fakhri describes herself a “global citizen”. Fakhri grew up in Mohegan Lake, New York, in Yorktown.

Fakhri started her career as a model at the age of 16. In her later years, she appeared as a contestant on the second and third cycle of America’s Next Top Model (2004). Although Fakhri was selected for the first two challenges of both the cycles, she failed to make up to the third challenge for the top twelve contestants. She subsequently modeled professionally in America, working for freelance agencies, and appearing regularly at fashion shows. Fakhri’s fame increased when she appeared in a popular Indian print campaign for the 2009 Kingfisher Calendar.

Her appearance in the Kingfisher Calendar attracted the attention of Indian filmmaker Imtiaz Ali. He selected her for a role in the Hindi romantic drama Rockstar. Fakhri later said that she agreed to work in India so that she could “relate to culture” and get “close to (her) roots (Pakistan)”, because India and Pakistan share similar cultures.

Agencies