25 years of Maachis: Met Gulzar saab hoping to get the job of an AD, reveals Jimmy Sheirgill

The actor looks back at the time when he bagged the National Award winning 1996 political thriller; says that its box office success came as a “shock and surprise” to many

Jimmy Sheirgill marked his debut with Gulzar’s Maachis (1996). As the film clocks 25 years of its release, the actor exclaims, “Who could have asked for a better start!” Sheirgill admits he was rather “intimidated” being directed by the iconic lyricist-filmmaker. “I knew I was in safe hands but on the other hand, I felt the constant pressure of living up to what the scenes demanded because I had no prior experience in films. I remember being very nervous before my scenes. Gulzar saab would casually come and tell me how they had to be done and made me go through the lines,” he recalls.

Jimmy Sheirgill felt intimidated by Gulzar on the sets of Maachis (Photo: Raajessh Kashyap/HT)

He reveals that he went to meet Gulzar at his office hoping to get the job of an assistant director on the film. Quiz him about how he bagged the film and he says, “When he came to know that I attend acting classes, he asked me why I wanted to get into direction. Then he told me to read the script that was being translated from Urdu to Hindu by one of his assistants. I finished reading it in one go. Later, when he asked me which character I liked the most, I told him Jaimal Singh because both his and my nickname is Jimmy. He laughed and gave me the part.”

Upon its release, Maachis emerged as a box office hit and in 1997, it won the National Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment. Its success came as a “shock and surprise” to many, says Sheirgill. “When trade pundits would talk about Maachis prior to its release, they would refer to it as a middle-of-the-road or an arty film. But it went on to become a commercial blockbuster. My relatives in Punjab would send me pictures of tractors, trolleys and trucks filled with people from villages going to cinema halls in cities to watch the film,” he ends.