Welcome 2 Karachi is produced by your father Vashu Bhagnani. Hadn’t you decided not to work in his films — for a while — after Youngistaan?

Yes, that was the plan. Unfortunately, just about 48 hours before the shoot was to begin, in London, Irrfan Khan, who was to play this role, backed out. The unit was already in London and the preparations were in place. If we hadn’t started filming, my father would have lost a lot of money. My dad has always backed and supported me, so I am happy that I could help him out. 

It must have been hard to suddenly land up in London and start shooting immediately?

It was. I had no time to prepare. But I guess, like most people, I work best under pressure. My character in the film has to speak with a Gujarati accent. Someone suggested that I check out the video of a guy [Devarshi] who had participated in MTV Roadies a few years ago. He seemed perfect to base my character on. So, I watched his videos on loop before we started the shoot. 

There’s another controversy now that your co-star Arshad Warsi apparently is upset? 

I have no idea. If he is upset, he should tell us. He hasn’t. He just finished dubbing for the film… if he had a problem he wouldn’t have done that. And, I wouldn’t have gone for his birthday party last month if I had a problem with him! Look, if two creative people are working together, there will be differences. Even my dad and I have differences but that doesn’t mean that we fell out. 

What is your equation with Arshad?

He is a great actor and more importantly, he is a very good co-actor. He really goes out of his way to help you. I had never done comedy before and considering I didn’t have the time to prepare for this film, I was very nervous during the first schedule. Arshad was not only very patient but he helped me a lot. He loves to improvise, so it was great fun to work with him. 

There has also been talk of director Ashish R. Mohan walking off the set because of you…

Yes he did. He walked off to go back to the hotel… because we had wrapped up the shoot for the day! (Laughs) It’s very easy to come up with these rumours about me behaving like a brat because my father is the producer. So, people might even believe these rumours but they couldn’t be further from the truth. I am not playing the victim card but I have heard these rumours before. I used to get upset when people spoke 
s**t about me earlier, but not anymore. 

Do you think you are taken seriously as an actor?

I think so, especially after the success of Youngistaan. My first film (Kal Kissne Dekha) didn’t do well and though the subsequent films did well at the box office, the perception was I ‘got it easy’. I may not have had to struggle to get my first film but the fight started after that. I am happy that people have accepted me. 

Last year, you became an Internet meme after an autocorrect slip-up (in a tweet congratulating Malala Yousafzai, Jackky spelt her name ‘Masala’)….

(Laughs) Yes. I am obviously a lot more careful now when I tweet. That was a big goof-up. What was funnier was that people actually thought I didn’t know how to spell Malala. But that’s the nature of the beast. If you live your life in the public eye, you have to be ready for public love and lynching.

Share your favourite meme of Jackky Bhagnani at t2@abp.in