Khan't get better

Actor Jimmy Shergill first acted with SRK in Mohabbatein, and then had to wait nine long years before he got a chance to star alongside him again. In fact, whenever he would bump into Karan Johar, he would ask the director if he had a role for him. "Villain bhi chalega, I'd say," he laughs as he recounts the memory. But, it was worth the wait. Jimmy, who came out of hiding to play Shah Rukh's brother in My Name is Khan, shares his filming experience with CS:



My name is Shergill

One day Karan called me saying that he'd sent me the script for MNIK and he wanted to cast me in the film. I told him that I wouldn't need to read it, I'd be happy to do the role. But Karan insisted that I go through the script. When I did, I was completely blown over. I knew the film would do well, but I didn't know that I would get such a great response for my role. That's come as a surprise to me.

Destiny's child

There was a time when I was doing films back-to-back without a break. I didn't even go for my honeymoon. Then on a whim, I left on a holiday and didn't sign any movie for a year. I think sometimes destiny makes you do strange things. But, I am a bit of a recluse by nature.

When I am shooting, my crew is like my family and we get along like a house on fire. But after pack-up time, I like to be with myself and my family, to the point that if I have to step out of home for a friend's birthday party, it just gets me down!

Role call

Even though my role in MNIK might not be very big in terms of length, I don't have any insecurity playing second leads or smaller characters. I was probably the first actor who was getting solo leads and yet opted for films like Munnabhai. But thanks to the roles that I have done, I am perceived as a complex guy.

When I did Maachis, people said that they liked the bearded, long-haired guy. But no one saw the clean-shaven man behind Jaimal's character.

Then I did Mohabbatein, and people started tagging me as a chocolate boy. After films like Hasil, Charas, Munnabhai, Silsilay, people would say, 'If you need an actor to play a complex role, catch Jimmy.'

Arif Khan, my character in A Wednesday didn't have too many dialogues, but still made an impact. Looking back, I must have done about 50 films in the last 14 years. Even by the law of averages, how many flops can one person give? I'm not scared of doing smaller roles, I just hear the voice within.

WHO: Jimmy Shergill

WHAT: On being typecast as a complex guy

WHERE: J W Marriott