The Disney+ Hotstar film Good Luck Jerry (2022), directed by Siddharth Sen, is only the fourth feature of Janhvi Kapoor. The actress, daughter of the late actress Sridevi and producer Boney Kapoor, spoke about her journey in the film industry since she made her debut in Dhadak (2018), the Hindi remake of Nagraj Manjule’s Sairat (2016).
Good Luck Jerry review: Amusing remake that slips in its final act
While promoting the digital film on the B4U podcast Hear It Hear with Suchitra Pillai and Sudhi Sachdev, Kapoor said, “During Dhadak and Gunjan Saxena (2020), I have been made to feel that I got everything on a platter, and I got things I don’t deserve, which means that I am technically worthless, and I am getting opportunities because of the work my parents have done. At the same time, I also felt overwhelming respect and love for my parents, and I am being given love and work because of that.”
She continued, “But the truth is that I love acting and I live for it. I work my ass off to give it back to them for what they have done for me, and because I am doing what I do because of their love. And then I realized that what I can do is enjoy my work. I do have respect for the fact that other people have lost out on the opportunity. But no thanks. I realized that what I can do is make sure that I can give it more than my best and my everything. I don’t know about the beauty and talent I have, that you mention, but I do know about the hard work I have put in for all my films.”
In Good Luck Jerry, the actress takes on another remake. The Hindi film is a remake of the Nayanthara-starrer Kolamaavu Kokila (2018), in which the leading south actress played an ordinary woman who becomes a drug courier for a local gang.
Kapoor plays Jaya Kumari aka Jerry, a young woman who moves from Bihar to Punjab with her family. The 25-year-old also spoke about how she worked to improve her diction for the Aanand L Rai-produced film. She shared, “I started training for my diction and dialect, and there is a specific rhythm to the Bihari accent and it’s so meetha [sweet]. Once you tap into the rhythm, it's difficult to get out of it. Then I was playing a girl from Bihar, in Punjab, amongst a gang, and I was the only girl in a group of thugs.”
“They were all in character, and most technicians were also male. They did make me comfortable, but it does feel funny because there are these very sweaty groups of men whose job is to intimidate you. I was not allowed to go back into the van because my character never had such privileges. I suddenly realized that we actors have such privileges when everyone including the light dadas and others are sweating it out on the set,” she added.
Good Luck Jerry is being streamed on Disney+ Hotstar. Kapoor wrapped up filming on Nitesh Tiwari's Bawaal (2023), which pairs her with actor Varun Dhawan for the first time.