9 years of A Wednesday: When Jimmy Sheirgill asked for Naseeruddin Shah’s role

Actor Jimmy Sheirgill had jokingly told director Neeraj Pandey that he wanted to play the role of the man who sits on the terrace.

Actor Jimmy Sheirgill,who played the role of Inspector Arif Khan from the Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) in the film A Wednesday, said yes to the role because the character had very few dialogues. However, as the film completes nine years of its release today, the 46-year-old actor reveals that he ended up spending the most number of days shooting, since his character was involved in almost every scene.

Actor Jimmy Sheirgill says Neeraj Pandey asked him which role he wanted to play.

“It was a funny thing. After I read the script, Neeraj (Pandey; film’s director) asked me what role would I want to play. I jokingly said that I would like to play the role of the man who sits on the terrace (played by Naseeruddin Shah in the film). But jokes aside, I said yes to Arif, because I thought he doesn’t speak a lot in the film, so I won’t have to spend much time for the shooting. But I was wrong,” says Jimmy. “ Arif was present everywhere. He was present at the headquarters where the communication between the commissioner and the common man was taking place, and at the airport for the climax scene. Naseer saab probably spent the shortest time shooting for it. I think he finished his portions in three-four days. I spent 22-24 days completing my part. The entire film was shot in less than 30 days. I probably had the biggest part in it,” Jimmy recalls.

“I always knew from the start that it will do well because it was so relevant. It was an amazing concept about a common man taking law into his own hands because he was feeling, ‘What the hell is happening, and why can’t anyone do anything about it?I think that was a feeling that everyone sort of related to,” he says.

Follow @htshowbiz for more