It was in 1996 that Indian actor Jimmy Shergill made his acting debut with Maachis. Helmed by Gulzar, the political thriller co-starred Chandrachur Singh, Tabu and late Om Puri. Years on, Shergill has one wish - to reunite with the director. “I am dying to work with him again. I have always said this, I want to work with him,” said the actor in an exclusive interview with WION.

When asked if he has expressed his desire to the cinema thespian, Shergill said, “Mere baat karne se kya hota hai… Gulzar sahaab film banaayein, mai khud hi pahunch jaaunga wahan pe… Film toh banaaaye (No use talking to him, let him first make a film, I will land up there but first he should make a film).” 
 
Initial years in Bollywood 
 
While the 1996 movie got him immense fame, the challenge of being typecast soon followed. “Gulzar sahaab had told me to grow my beard and hair for that particular character. Once that film was over, I was back to clean-shaven look and because I was doing something else now, I had short hair. People would call me and they would look at me, not even recognise me, and they would say ‘we were looking at a character something like that Jimmy from Maachis with long hair’. And a lot of times, I would be disheartened. it’s not once or twice, it happened quite a few times,” recalled Shergill.

But that wasn’t the only look that got stuck in the minds of the cinemagoers. When Shergill took on the role of a college student in 2000 film Mohabbatein, his lover boy image stayed along, more so because the movie continues to find new fans in Gen Z. “Throughout my life, I have lived my entire career trying to break an image. Initially, it was this lover boy, chocolate boy image that started haunting me. Then I moved on to intense characters and I tried to create a little angry young man persona and then came to Dabang-ish kind of thing. Somewhere some looks get stuck and then you try to break them, sometimes you are successful, sometimes you aren’t," he explained.&nbsp; 
 
Career in Punjabi films&nbsp; 
 
In addition to Hindi movies, Shergill has also explored the terrain of Punjabi cinema. He made his debut for filmmaker and cinematographer Manmohan Singh, with whom he had worked on films like Maachis&nbsp;and Mohabbatein. &nbsp;

"When he started directing Punjabi movies, I just told him, Manmohan ji, I don't even need to listen to the script, I will do it for you. I am glad I went ahead because doing that film was probably the most memorable and enjoyable time I have had in any Punjabi movie. When it released, some madness happened," he said. While Shergill swiftly started with one Punjabi film a year, his journey wasn't as easy. Opening up about his challenges, Shergill revealed, "I almost started going door-to-door - in Punjab, Canada, overseas, buying my own tickets and going to the UK, Australia knocking on doors, saying please watch our Punjabi movies, they are not that bad and slowly each year, one film would come out and then when in 2010 Mel Karade Rabba&nbsp;released, history was created and I felt this is what I wanted." The actor continues to work in Punjabi films and remains certain that the industry will soon churn out pan-India movies as well.

Over the years, the representation of Sikh actors and characters has&nbsp;changed considerably on the screen. Shergill, who has Sikh roots, explains that while initially Bollywood actors like Sunny Deol would wear turbans and take on sardaar&nbsp;ke roles (Sikh roles), now, there are locally big stars like Diljit Dosanjh and Gippy Grewal who are making a mark.

"It's a great shift... It's great to have pan-India phenomenon for Indian movies. It started off with South actors coming to Bollywood and now Punjabi actors are also working in Hindi cinema," he opined.&nbsp;

Notably, the actor was a teenager when he decided to cut off his hair, a move that didn't go down well with his Sikh parents. Looking back at the incident, Shergill shared, "Galtiyan ho jaati hai, mujhse bhi hui thi. I think meri shayad destiny kuch aisi thi, wo hona tha, mujhe Bombay pahunchna tha kai saalo baad (Mistakes happen, I think it was in my destiny, I had to come to Bombay to work)... It was a mistake that I made, and my parents, especially my mother, didn't talk to me for quite some time." 
 
Jimmy Shergill's latest project Ranneeti: Balakot &amp; Beyond 
 
The actor's latest project is a web show titled Ranneeti: Balakot &amp; Beyond. Co-starring Lara Dutta and Ashish Vidyarthi among others, the show is a detailed take on the series of events that went on behind-the-scenes during the 2019 Balakot airstrike. "It's a different take. Till now, whatever you have watched on Pulwama and Balakot, has been in front of you. You might be knowing the same thing what we saw on the news. But the show goes beyond it, it looks at how things transpired and events turned around," shared the actor.&nbsp;

When Shergill first saw the script, he was completely shocked. "There were things I didn't know had&nbsp;occurred. The first thing that came to my mind was - I will definitely be a part of this." Asked if it was difficult to shoot without specific reference points, as was the case for his role of Kashyap Sinha, a RAW agent with two surnames as his name, the actor explained that he had to rely on director Santosh Singh and the show's writers. "I was very happy when I met the director. He had already worked in such detail on the small nuances for this particular character to make it look so believable. This guy in some mission in the past lost his sense of smell and taste, so today he only eats khichdi because he can't taste the food. He carries camphor in his handkerchief and keeps smelling it thinking that his olfactory sense will come back," he said.&nbsp;

The start might have been intense, but through the course of the filming, Shergill admits that he started to like his character. "I would not say that I am close to him, but somewhere I like him. I just thought he is a different kind of a hero and I also told the director that I hope and wish you guys make a second part with some other story to get this guy back. He is a good man."

While Shergill hopes that the timing of the show's release, amid the election season, works in its favour, he clarifies that it wasn't intentional. "The original date of release was last year, I think August 15. But they had too much of special effects in the film, especially with a whole lot of sequences, even though they used all the real stuff, the artillery and all, but the air combat and other things required a lot of special effects because of which it got delayed. Let's hope this thing you are saying coming in elections and propaganda, it works in our favour. The show needs that audience and when it gets that audience, more people will start making and investing in these kinds of shows," he explained.&nbsp;

With several celebrities foraying into politics, one wonders if Shergill will ever make that switch. To this, the actor simply said that while he has been hearing such things, he just wants to focus on acting.

Over the years, Shergill has delivered several performances spanning different film genres. However, many cine-goers also argue that the actor hasn't gotten his due. To this, Shergill feels there is no bigger compliment. "The thing is that I always take it as a compliment. When somebody says you have not got what you deserve, you are deserving of much more, I take it as a huge compliment. It's probably the biggest compliment," he concluded.&nbsp;

It was in 1996 that Indian actor Jimmy Shergill made his acting debut with Maachis. Helmed by Gulzar, the political thriller co-starred Chandrachur Singh, Tabu and late Om Puri.

It was in 1996 that Indian actor Jimmy Shergill made his acting debut with Maachis. Helmed by Gulzar, the political thriller co-starred Chandrachur Singh, Tabu and late Om Puri. Years on, Shergill has one wish - to reunite with the director. “I am dying to work with him again. I have always said this, I want to work with him,” said the actor in an exclusive interview with WION. When asked if he has expressed his desire to the cinema thespian, Shergill said, “Mere baat karne se kya hota hai… Gulzar sahaab film banaayein, mai khud hi pahunch jaaunga wahan pe… Film toh banaaaye (No use talking to him, let him first make a film, I will land up there but first he should make a film).” Initial years in Bollywood While the 1996 movie got him immense fame, the challenge of being typecast soon followed. “Gulzar sahaab had told me to grow my beard and hair for that particular character. Once that film was over, I was back to clean-shaven look and because I was doing something else now, I had short hair. People would call me and they would look at me, not even recognise me, and they would say ‘we were looking at a character something like that Jimmy from Maachis with long hair’. And a lot of times, I would be disheartened. it’s not once or twice, it happened quite a few times,” recalled Shergill. But that wasn’t the only look that got stuck in the minds of the cinemagoers. When Shergill took on the role of a college student in 2000 film Mohabbatein, his lover boy image stayed along, more so because the movie continues to find new fans in Gen Z. “Throughout my life, I have lived my entire career trying to break an image. Initially, it was this lover boy, chocolate boy image that started haunting me. Then I moved on to intense characters and I tried to create a little angry young man persona and then came to Dabang-ish kind of thing. Somewhere some looks get stuck and then you try to break them, sometimes you are successful, sometimes you aren’t," he explained. Career in Punjabi films In addition to Hindi movies, Shergill has also explored the terrain of Punjabi cinema. He made his debut for filmmaker and cinematographer Manmohan Singh, with whom he had worked on films like Maachis and Mohabbatein. "When he started directing Punjabi movies, I just told him, Manmohan ji, I don't even need to listen to the script, I will do it for you. I am glad I went ahead because doing that film was probably the most memorable and enjoyable time I have had in any Punjabi movie. When it released, some madness happened," he said. While Shergill swiftly started with one Punjabi film a year, his journey wasn't as easy. Opening up about his challenges, Shergill revealed, "I almost started going door-to-door - in Punjab, Canada, overseas, buying my own tickets and going to the UK, Australia knocking on doors, saying please watch our Punjabi movies, they are not that bad and slowly each year, one film would come out and then when in 2010 Mel Karade Rabba released, history was created and I felt this is what I wanted." The actor continues to work in Punjabi films and remains certain that the industry will soon churn out pan-India movies as well. Over the years, the representation of Sikh actors and characters has changed considerably on the screen. Shergill, who has Sikh roots, explains that while initially Bollywood actors like Sunny Deol would wear turbans and take on sardaar ke roles (Sikh roles), now, there are locally big stars like Diljit Dosanjh and Gippy Grewal who are making a mark. "It's a great shift... It's great to have pan-India phenomenon for Indian movies. It started off with South actors coming to Bollywood and now Punjabi actors are also working in Hindi cinema," he opined. Notably, the actor was a teenager when he decided to cut off his hair, a move that didn't go down well with his Sikh parents. Looking back at the incident, Shergill shared, "Galtiyan ho jaati hai, mujhse bhi hui thi. I think meri shayad destiny kuch aisi thi, wo hona tha, mujhe Bombay pahunchna tha kai saalo baad (Mistakes happen, I think it was in my destiny, I had to come to Bombay to work)... It was a mistake that I made, and my parents, especially my mother, didn't talk to me for quite some time." Jimmy Shergill's latest project Ranneeti: Balakot & Beyond The actor's latest project is a web show titled Ranneeti: Balakot & Beyond. Co-starring Lara Dutta and Ashish Vidyarthi among others, the show is a detailed take on the series of events that went on behind-the-scenes during the 2019 Balakot airstrike. "It's a different take. Till now, whatever you have watched on Pulwama and Balakot, has been in front of you. You might be knowing the same thing what we saw on the news. But the show goes beyond it, it looks at how things transpired and events turned around," shared the actor. When Shergill first saw the script, he was completely shocked. "There were things I didn't know had occurred. The first thing that came to my mind was - I will definitely be a part of this." Asked if it was difficult to shoot without specific reference points, as was the case for his role of Kashyap Sinha, a RAW agent with two surnames as his name, the actor explained that he had to rely on director Santosh Singh and the show's writers. "I was very happy when I met the director. He had already worked in such detail on the small nuances for this particular character to make it look so believable. This guy in some mission in the past lost his sense of smell and taste, so today he only eats khichdi because he can't taste the food. He carries camphor in his handkerchief and keeps smelling it thinking that his olfactory sense will come back," he said. The start might have been intense, but through the course of the filming, Shergill admits that he started to like his character. "I would not say that I am close to him, but somewhere I like him. I just thought he is a different kind of a hero and I also told the director that I hope and wish you guys make a second part with some other story to get this guy back. He is a good man." While Shergill hopes that the timing of the show's release, amid the election season, works in its favour, he clarifies that it wasn't intentional. "The original date of release was last year, I think August 15. But they had too much of special effects in the film, especially with a whole lot of sequences, even though they used all the real stuff, the artillery and all, but the air combat and other things required a lot of special effects because of which it got delayed. Let's hope this thing you are saying coming in elections and propaganda, it works in our favour. The show needs that audience and when it gets that audience, more people will start making and investing in these kinds of shows," he explained. With several celebrities foraying into politics, one wonders if Shergill will ever make that switch. To this, the actor simply said that while he has been hearing such things, he just wants to focus on acting. Over the years, Shergill has delivered several performances spanning different film genres. However, many cine-goers also argue that the actor hasn't gotten his due. To this, Shergill feels there is no bigger compliment. "The thing is that I always take it as a compliment. When somebody says you have not got what you deserve, you are deserving of much more, I take it as a huge compliment. It's probably the biggest compliment," he concluded.

Exclusive | Jimmy Shergill on typecasting: ‘I have lived my entire career trying to break an image’

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