'I've always wanted to do a comic role'

Jimmy Sheirgill talks of his latest film and of being stereotyped in the Indian film industry

For the first time in his career, Jimmy Sheirgill is acting in an out and out comedy film. Tom Dick & Harry is directed by Deepak Tijori for producers Surendra Bhatia and Ranjan Prakash.

"I have always wanted to act in a comedy but no one offered me a comic role until now. Deepak was the first to offer me one.

"The tragedy in this industry is that one gets slotted very easily. I had to fight against being typecast as a fauji (soldier). When I started my career with Maachis, they said I had an action image.

"When I acted in Mohabbatein, they said I was a chocolate boy. I hope after the release of Tom Dick & Harry, I am once again able to break my image."

Tiring

Talking about his character as the silent guy Harry in Tom Dick & Harry, Jimmy confesses that it tired him out because he had to convey each expression through action and not dialogues. For that matter, he didn't have a script either.

"First of all there was no script for me. There will be no dubbing for my character in the film. When you set out to work in a film like this, there is also the danger that you end up as a loser, if the audience does not empathise with your character, but it is worth the risk."

"Initially, I struggled to get comfortable with Dino Morea's character of the hearing impaired guy. In fact Deepak Tijori conducted a two-day workshop before the film went on the floors for all three of us - Dino, Anuuj and myself - to overcome our doubts and get into the skin of our characters since we had never worked with each other earlier."

Inspiration

Jimmy admits that to prepare himself for the role, he made it a point to see the play See No Evil, Speak No Evil, Hear No Evil, which also dealt with three physically impaired characters like Tom Dick & Harry.

"I drew inspiration from the character of Harry from the play, although I must concede that the film is completely different from the play. You keep on meeting challenged people while you are travelling but I have yet to come across a character like Harry."

Complaint

Jimmy is happy to work with Deepak Tijori who is an actor turned director. "It helps if every director is also an actor because he understands the pressure an actor goes through. Deepak gave me a lot of leeway to improvise. The best thing about Deepak as a director is that I have never seen him being tense or shouting at anyone on the sets."
 
The only complaint that Jimmy has against Deepak is that he had made him appear topless in a scene in the film though both Dino and Anuuj refused to shed their clothes.

Among his forthcoming releases, Jimmy confesses that he is banking a lot on films like Khaffa, Vidhu Vinod Chopra's Eklavya, Naseeruddin Shah's Yun Hota To Kya Hota.

Coming full circle

"Besides Umar, which released recently in India, I have nine films releasing this year. Among them will be a Punjabi film called Mannat, Bas Ek Pal and Delhi Heights.

"I wouldn't be able to pinpoint what exactly has been my growth as an actor as of now, though I am dying to come full circle by working with Gulzarsaab after a gap of almost a decade after his debut film Maachis."