Nargis Fakhri Blod shoot

You don’t try. You just give up. Because you can’t help but surrender when Nargis Fakhri casts her spell!

Photographs FARROKH CHOTHIA

She came like a whiff of fresh air and left many a heart fluttering. Nargis Fakhri is nothing you’d expect her to be and everything you want her to be. Those lips and eyes aside, this girl will sizzle quite a few dreams, but she doesn’t want to do that. She’s not trying to make you fall in love with her—but you will. How can we be so sure? We haven’t had a dirty dream about her for months now!Hi, Nargis! Welcome to Maxim. After drooling all over the seats in multiplexes and over calendar spreads, it’s cool to have you in our pages. How do you feel?
I feel ecstatic! The shoot was amazing and I love the pictures. Did you guys like them?

Like them? We’re shedding tears of joy as we thank God for giving you those legs. Your dad’s from Pakistan and your mum is Czech, and you grew up in New York. How was it?
Well, life in New York was colourful in more ways than one. It’s an amazing city to grow up in as it’s a place where different people, styles and theories mix together. Life was always interesting with something new to learn and something new to experience!

We’ve had a few memorable experiences too. We were in this bar, see… we’ll tell you some other time. We researched—though we totally hate working—and found you’ve said you’re a tomboy. Really? With those legs?
Being a tomboy is not about appearance, but attitude. I am pretty open to talking about anything under the sun so people are comfortable telling me everything, sometimes more than I want to hear. I guess it’s because I don’t judge anyone. My guy friends tell me about the girls they’re dating and even ask for advice. Since I can be pretty explicit when I talk, I’m sure they get a kick out of it. I’m not afraid to speak my mind. Besides, I feel that what boys are up to is way more fun than what girls are usually doing.

Explicit, guys have fun… give us a moment, we may be in love. You’re now working in a place that’s all glamour and glitz, so how do you cope? When did the bug bite?
I’m not even sure if the glamour bug has bitten me at all. To date, I am most comfortable in my jeans and sneakers. I enjoy adventure and I would still climb a tree if I found one I liked. And I’d want to be a part of the games that boys play. I have way too much energy and can’t be bothered to sit around getting a manicure and pedicure. And shopping drives me nuts! Yeah, when I have to get girly, I can easily do that too! And I am exploring my sexier side right now!

Thank you for that. Before you came to do Hindi movies, you were a model. What changed?
I’m an international model and I’ve lived all over the world. The Kingfisher Calendar happened while I was living in Singapore. At that time, I didn’t even know what the calendar was! I was just excited to go to an island, chill out and get paid for it. Then came America’s Next Top Model, and I have nothing much to say about it. It was a reality show and I learnt that things are never what they seem. I am glad the universe apparently had other plans for me.

Well, it’s the Yankees’ loss, we say. But you’d never acted before, never been to India, couldn’t speak Hindi and had no clue about the movies, right? We’d have been scared shitless.
Yeah, it was a huge risk for me to take. I had to leave everything behind and jump into this strange job with zero experience. I mean, who does that? But then, I like to actually live my life and when I do plan, God just laughs! I’ve learnt to listen to the universe and when it offers its hand out to me, I just accept it. It’s been amazing so far. It was scary initially, but I like doing things that scare me. I think if I always play safe, I will never get anywhere in life.

People have said that they can see you living in some remote place all by yourself. Are you like that, some modern-day hippie?
I am the kind of girl who has many layers and I am a free spirit. Yes, I could run off to an island and decide to stay there and sell coconuts for a living. And I would be happy there too. But right now, I’m super-excited to see what’s in store for me here. So you guys have no reason to worry as I am not going anywhere, anytime soon!

Phew! We can breathe again. But could you be alone? Would you miss the attention?
Not at all, I don’t need attention and I’m not looking for it either. I enjoy being alone and love spending time with myself since I am pretty entertaining!

We agree, of course. What about competition?
I don’t believe in competition! What exists in my realm is to make sure I give
200 percent in whatever I do. All I can say is this: Don’t mistake my calm and mellowness for lack of ambition. Don’t underestimate me. And don’t mistake my niceness for my weakness either.

Gulp! Is that how you scare the men away too? What do you think about us Indian men?
Well, to be honest, I’ve always felt the male species is a certain way and I’ve never really categorised them by nationality. I don’t know many Indian men so I can’t give you a proper assessment. Men seem similar around the world and it becomes difficult to find someone special. If you know of anyone, please send them my way. I’m accepting resumes!

Here’s ours, updated to include our latest kinks and recent goof-ups. But we have plenty of experience and we can crack some mean jokes. We’re sure we fit the bill. Tell us we do. Do we?
What first attracts me is intellect. I need to be able to learn something from the man. We need to like to do the same things so that we can work out, ride a bike or maybe join a wine-tasting course. A sense of humour is also very important, as I can’t be the only one making us laugh.

Hey, it’s like we’re a perfect match. Except that we aren’t smart, we hate working out and we drink beer. But is there something that would just completely put you off?
I don’t like men who show off. I don’t care what car you drive, what boat you just bought or how much your last deal was worth. I care about the person you are and what kind of heart and soul you have. Be real and if that means being dorky, so be it. It is so sexy when a man is himself. Anyway, we women can tell when a man’s faking it.

As the last six years will prove, we never fake anything. Especially compliments. And you have an awesome body and sexy lips, by the way. Is it your lips that get you the most compliments from men?
I actually get a lot of compliments on my booty, not only from boys but from girls as well. But I think my best physical attribute are my eyes.

Okay, we’ll look up now. Wow, they are pretty nice. What about a girl giving you the look?
I’ve once had a girl come and ask me if she could kiss me because she found my lips very sexy. And her boyfriend was standing right next to her! I started blushing, said no, thanked her for the compliment, and quickly changed the topic.

Smooth. Some dudes are all worried that the world may end this year. Apocalypse and all that. What are the last three things you would want to do if, in fact, these dudes turn out to be right? Our list includes public nudity.
Firstly, I would want to go scuba diving. I was in Havelock Island not too long ago and couldn’t finish the course because I totally freaked out. So I need to do that before the world ends, for sure. Then, I really want to backpack through the Amazon rainforest and also do sky-diving.

We would have loved to join you but we’ll probably be busy flashing the world goodbye. But if we said Nargis and Maxim make for a fabulous couple, would we be wrong? In fact, how would you describe us together?
It is an enigma.