Jimmy Sheirgill awarded.. at last - Hindustan Times
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Jimmy Sheirgill awarded.. at last

Hindustan Times | ByJanaki Viswanathan, Mumbai
Jan 05, 2009 08:41 PM IST

Bollywood actor Jimmy Sheirgill on winning awards, contemplating television and other topics brought up by Janaki Viswanathan.

Jimmy Sheirgill on winning awards, contemplating television and other topics brought up by

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Janaki Viswanathan

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You recently won the V Shantaram Award for Best Supporting Actor for

A Wednesday

.. your first ever..

(Laughs) Yes, it was amazing. For the fist time in life I was nominated and I won too. I was in Chandigarh when I got to know of the nomination.



As days went by, I started hoping that I’d win. Then at the awards ceremony.. I saw the guys I’d been pitted against, and thought, forget it, I’m not getting this one. And then I heard my name.



You made your debut as a terrorist in

Maachis

.. and you’ve just played tough cop in

A Wednesday

. Has life come full circle?

No, for me life will come full circle only when Gulzar

saab

directs me once again. Then I’ll know where I stand.. whether I’m still one-on-10 in terms of acting.. or two-on-10.. (Laughs) or three-on-10.



Yahaan

was critically acclaimed but did only average business and failed to win you any acclaim.. did that hurt?

Yahaan

did pretty well. It received nearly 15 nominations at several award ceremonies but I was left out. The V Shantaram award has made up for it. You also have to consider the fact that

Yahaan

was battling two odds. One, the July 26 deluge and the other,

Mangal Pandey.

Is it true that you will do TV now with a role in the upcoming Monica Mogre?


Yeah, I have been approached for it. I’m hoping the dates work out. They ought to be finalised by January 10. The series is about a female cop and every case she solves spans around a month. I’ll be playing a con man.



Apparently, you’re considering film and TV software production?


I am thinking about it. But nothing’s concrete yet.



What’s happening to

Flat

?

The post-production is on.. since it’s a supernatural thriller, there will be special effects. It’s got a Korean feel. Then there’s Johnny Mastana co-starring Amitabh Bachchan.



You got your big break with

Mohabbatein

.. what went wrong after that?

I had a couple of hits after

Mohabbatein

.. Then I realised I’d been working non-stop for nearly a year and a half. So I took a long break. I shouldn’t have.



Have you wised up then?


I try and follow what Gulzar

saab

once told me.. that an actor should never be without work. And also that an actor should never let the commercial fate of his films become his own.



I probably have the most number of flops. But I haven’t stopped acting! I also have a family to support, a certain lifestyle that I could never give up.



Speaking of family, one hardly knows anything about your wife or son..


My wife and I are very low profile people. My son, Vir, is just about four and a half years old, too young to understand. (Grins) My relatives keep telling me that I ought to make more public appearances, but I’m just plain lazy.



Does your son watch your films?


(Laughs) His favourite actors are Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan.. his father comes third. As for my wife, she tells me exactly what she thinks of my films.



Actually, I know where I’ve gone right or wrong while watching the final cut. Initially, I used to confide in my closest friends about this but now I’ve stopped. I’m a psycho. When I hear people praising my performance, I think to myself, “I’m such a con man.” Crazy, right?



You haven’t done a solo hero project in ages..


But it was I who started playing character actors as well as lead roles. If you look at a

Munnabhai MBBS

or

Lage Raho Munnabhai

or

Hum Tum

, the little character roles mattered to the film.



You’re related to the late painter Amrita Shergill.. ever tried your hand at art?


My dad’s a sculptor and my brother has studied art. (Laughs) Me, I’m just a con man.

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