He’s handsome, charming and prefers McLaren over Ferrari.
Ritujoy Chakraborty meets chocolate-boy model and actor, Jas Arora

“A Foster’s...?,” he asks, as I settle down on a blistering Delhi afternoon at his lovely ‘cottage’ to talk cars. Not surprisingly, we’re soon in a heated discussion about Formula 1 (hence the connection with the Australian beer) and I’m delighted to know that Jas’s loyalities are with McLaren. Delighted, because one was starting to suspect that there weren’t any celebs left, any humans for that matter, who supported any other team than Ferrari. Whether it’s tyre choice or driver error, nothing escapes the man, and it was no different in the last race. “Man, they were so unlucky at Silverstone.” Yes, we know, but then it’s not a Ferrari, is it? Heh heh!

But does this ‘veteran’ of 150-odd commercials and actor in two upcoming movies emulate his Formula 1 heroes in real life driving?

“No way buddy! Heaven knows what people think about young folk in showbiz, but not all are rash, drunken drivers with blaring music in their snazzy cars you know. I’m a very responsible driver and treat my cars with love and care. I maintain three cars, two black Accents, one each in Delhi and Mumbai, plus my Matiz in Delhi, which was my first car.”

Why the Accent, that too two of them? “For me, a car should be comfortable, it should have a great suspension, it should have driveability and it should be sound-proof so that I can listen to my music, a lot of world music, especially this Moroccan singer called Mami.

“I am not the type who likes to just drive around, woofers booming and spending petrol and time. For me, a car is nothing more than a means of commuting from point A to B, and all I ask is that I should be able to do that comfortably. I think the Accent does all the above beautifully, and best of all, looks hot!”

Jas’s fame spread far and wide with his performance in the hit music video ‘Gur Naalo Ishq Mitha’, and Dubai is one of the places where he’s in demand the most. Once, our man took part in a Sand Dune Rally on 4x4s, all with rally gear et al. Competing with local celebs, who were familiar with the dunes, Jas fought hard and actually managed to come a very decent fourth! If that wasn’t enough, ask him what was the craziest and probably the scariest thing he’s ever done on wheels.

“Well, actually it wasn’t on wheels, because I was driving a turbo-charged monster boat off the coast of Dubai at over 100 miles per hour (160kph), and the boat belonged to the world champion. It’s only when you drive one of those things that you realise how much strength you need just to keep the steering steady over the choppy waters. It was awesome!”

He feels that it’s not necessary for an individual’s cars to grow in size as the person grows in stature. So, dream cars for him are purely based on utility.

“Look at this way. With every new issue of say, Autocar India, I may see a car that I like more than the one I saw last month. But that doesn’t mean I go out and buy it, even if I have the money. I think that’s quite insensitive too — look at the way our roads are getting choked and people are coming to blows over parking. I think there’s a lesson there. Coming back to my dream car, maybe a Toyota LandCruiser, but only in Delhi, not in Mumbai, where you can barely move.” Sense and sensibility seem well entrenched in this Taurean. Now we know that there are more reasons than one that women (and some men!) swoon at the mere sight of our McLaren chap. Cheers!