Jackie to inspire more Sri Lankans to stardom

By Cheranka Mendis

Former Miss Sri Lanka for Miss Universe turned hotshot Bollywood babe, Jacqueline Fernandez is bringing back her glamour and experience to train and take more people in her path of success.

Fernandez this week joined hands with ImageBay, an event and image management company which is set to launch a high profiled modelling school in Sri Lanka. She  will work alongside choreographer Brian Kerkoven in creating models of international class and standard in Sri Lanka.

“I want to help more girls achieve what I have achieved and live the dream I am living,” Fernandez said. “We need to build an international supermodel from Sri Lanka. This girl would see the benefits of supermodel stardom and that would drive other girls to aspire to be the same.” The school, scheduled to be opened before the end of the year will accept both female and male students who would like to be groomed as models. According to height, weight, skill and other requirements, the students will be then guided towards the more likely field for them to succeed in modelling.

Brian Kerkoven stated that the school will aim at “grooming” the students and would look at covering areas such as communication, subject education and people skills.

“I hope I can create more beautiful ladies like Jacqueline. Girls admire her and want to follow in her footsteps,” Kerkoven said. “We need to take the standards of Sri Lankan models to a higher level so that we can compete internationally. The school will educate the students that this business is more than just walking on the ramp or being a pretty face. It’s a profession and one with good standards.”

Even though Sri Lanka now boasts of a number of modelling schools, standard maintenance is quite poor, Kerkoven expressed. “We will take them all in and then show them what aspect of modelling they should venture into based on their talents and structures.”

Despite her booming Bollywood career keeping her busy, Fernandez vowed to make a conscious effort to be in Sri Lanka more often. “This is something I definitely want to juggle. These are things that are fulfilling for me,” she said. “I was one of the lucky ones who got to go abroad and live my dream. More people should be given this chance and I am ready to help them in whichever way I can. It would be selfish of me to keep it to myself.”

“It’s a great opportunity. I want to make the most of it,” Fernandez said,” with my experience and Brian’s expertise I think this would be a good platform for aspiring models to take themselves and the country to the next step.”