Was never overshadowed by Sonam Kapoor's stardom, says Jim Sarbh

Sonam Kapoor may have played the titular role in Neerja, but Jim Sarbh, who played the antagonist Khalil, has walked away with a fair share of the kudos. Taking the complex character of Khalil a notch higher with his brilliant performance, debutant Jim has managed to make a mark in Bollywood.

Overwhelmed by the rave reviews, Jim tells us that stepping into the industry with a negative role did not bother him, as much as the thought of getting it right on screen. “I don’t really understand this negative or positive role thing. A role is a role. There was a lot of meat to Khalil’s character and it challenged me. It’s not something I have done before. You get to be a person at the end of their rope, how exciting is that!” Jim says.

Jim, the grandson of Kali Pundole (the founder of the landmark Pundole Art Gallery) has his roots in theatre. Coming from a theatre background, facing the camera was not the easiest of tasks. “It was scary but the way Ram (Madhvani, director) shot the film was my biggest friend. He was doing really long takes, which I am used to in theatre and that made sense to me. We didn’t break the character; I was already there after 45 minutes; tired and stressed out. I was already in the character, in front of 200 people, to whom half way through the shoot I started referring as the audience. Just like theatre, this was my stage where 200 people were watching me while I enacted my scene with Sonam,” Jim says.

Shooting such an intense film was nothing short of an emotional roller coaster. While filming one of the scenes, Jim accidentally smacked Sonam on her face with the barrel of his gun.

A still from 'Neerja'

Recalling the incident, the actor says, “The scene where I am looking for the cockpit, I slapped Sonam Kapoor on her face. I was so much in character that I got carried away and slapped her. It was a stage slap. When the scene was over, I was told not to slap Sonam. Now while shooting the next scene, ‘Jim, don’t slap her’ kept ringing in my head. So in the next scene, I smeared Sonam’s lipstick on her face and then I started addressing the passengers. The gun’s strap was wrapped around my arm and the moment I turned back, Sonam leaned forward and the gun jumped and smacked her face. I was sh*t scared at that moment, but to my surprise, Sonam didn’t stop, but continued with the scene. Seeing the person who got hit being so brave and going on with the scene, I told myself to suck it up and kept shooting. That’s how we finished the scene. Everything was real at that moment and it added that essence to the shot.”

So was there any baggage of having to prove himself, as he was acting next to Sonam, who is already a star? “No, not at all,” says Jim. “I was Khalil and she was Neerja and I think that’s how it worked. That was great for both of us. I don’t think she brought any of that baggage on the set, neither did I. We never chit-chatted. She was there to play her part and we both appreciated each other’s commitment to our respective characters.”

When asked why the actors who played terrorists in the film were kept away from film’s cast, Jim explains, “I don’t know why exactly Ram did that but it made sure that I could stay in my character and not get distracted with small talks. The rest of the cast didn’t know that this was just a boy from Bombay, who is Parsi and doesn’t know Arabic and is struggling. Instead they just see this person walk on set, start snarling, growling and doing what I need to do. This bought out that real effect which can only be achieved by rehearsing a lot. We didn’t have that much time on hand so we were not in a position to risk anything.”

Jim, who just returned from Ranchi where he was shooting for Konkana Sen Sharma’s directorial debut, says he is greedy for all kind of roles and if great roles came his way, whether theatre or Bollywood, he’d be more than willing to do it.