Shergill loves to experiment

Jimmy Shergill's Yahaan has just bagged a Special Jury Award at the inaugural Indian competition section of the 7th Osian's-Cinefan Film festival in New Delhi.

What is Yahaan all about?

Yahaan deals with a very basic human need — love. The film is set against the backdrop of a violent Kashmir.

The script is pegged on the word hope since Kashmir is an issue close to not just the protagonist's heart but that of every single Indian.

What is Yahaan's USP?

Yahaan is probably the only film in mainstream Bollywood to be shot exclusively in Kashmir, showing the true cultural, geographical and physical aspects while retaining the socio-political tensions.

Director Shoojit Sircar is making his debut as a director in feature films after having worked on several ad films over the last several years.

He has succeeded in showing Kashmir as it is and in a way in which it has never been shown before — beautiful and unique, in all its glory.

How did you prepare yourself to play the character of Aman?

Shoojit had done all the detailing. So, I hardly needed to prepare myself to get into the skin of the character.

I worked with Shoojit on my looks. He had my style in mind clearly and we shot the film, gorilla style. I was used to it since I had earlier shot for Haasil in gorilla style as well with director Tigmanshu Dhulia.

How dangerous was it for you to shoot for the film in Kashmir?

There was tension throughout the shooting on the backwaters of Dal Lake. Considering the fact that I was playing an army gut, it was quite dangerous for me because the militants in Kashmir always target the army.

However, this is not for the first time that I shot in Kashmir. I had shot there for Agnipankh thrice besides Love In Kashmir.

How did you find your co-star Minissha Lamba?

I was surprised when I did my first scene with her. I told Shoojit that I couldn't believe this was her first film as an actress though she had done ads earlier.

Shoojit liked her in an ad film she had done with him and since he needed an actress who could look innocent and vulnerable, he cast her.

She is a Punjabi but it helped the film because she had a Kashmiri accent — she studied there.

Which are your other projects right now?

There's the Punjabi film Yaara Naal Baharan opposite Juhi Babbar which is a family entertainer with Manmohan Singh as the director.

I play a police office in Khaffa which is a suspense thriller with a lot of twists. I'm also working on a comedy film —Umar — directed by K. Razdan.

Shehnaaz Treasurywala, who had debuted in Ishq Vishq, is cast opposite me. The film revolves around three old men and a boy who enters their lives as the son they always wanted.

I am also set to work in Deepak Tijori's next film Tom Dick And Harry. I play a dumb boy with Rajpal Yadav and Dino Morea.

How happy are you with the way your career has shaped till date?

I am happy with whatever I have achieved. I cannot blame any one because I have taken every single career decision on my own.

Success has been eluding me but I will not stoop to doing C-grade films because I think it is better to get success through respectable films.

You do not always get to do the kind of work you want to do. Sometimes you feel that the concept is nice but not performance-oriented but you have got to keep on experimenting as an actor.