Jimmy Shergill starred as an Indian Air Force pilot in the recently released show Operation Safed Sagar, and he is happy that it is getting love and appreciation from the audience. What has gotten praise particularly in the show is the heroism shown in the armed forces in a non jingoistic and chest-thumping manner. Jimmy Shergill says it was all because of how they saw the real-life officers that they met for their preparation.
“When you meet these heroes in reality, who have sacrificed so much for the country, you see how humble and simple these people are in the way they talk and behave with you. The makers wanted to have the show as real as possible and that brief was passed on to us too. We had to keep our portrayals as real as possible. If people who are watching the show and have found it to be authentic, that’s a great win for us as actors as well as for the makers behind the show,” he says.
Check out the entire conversation with team Operation Safed Sagar here:
The masculinity in the officers in the show is in contrast to the usual aggressive portrayals that are shown in Indian films. And not just uniformed officers, but in recent times, Bollywood has seen a rise of more hypermasculine and alpha male persona on screen. Ask Jimmy about it and he says, “But what’s wrong with it? This is cinema, and if everyone starts doing the same portrayal toh difference kya reh jayega. If I get a testosterone-y kind of a role, I would do it gladly. I am an actor and it’s my job to play different roles. I will play a subtle role with the same dedication as I will do an aggressive, hypermasculine role.”
{{/usCountry}}The masculinity in the officers in the show is in contrast to the usual aggressive portrayals that are shown in Indian films. And not just uniformed officers, but in recent times, Bollywood has seen a rise of more hypermasculine and alpha male persona on screen. Ask Jimmy about it and he says, “But what’s wrong with it? This is cinema, and if everyone starts doing the same portrayal toh difference kya reh jayega. If I get a testosterone-y kind of a role, I would do it gladly. I am an actor and it’s my job to play different roles. I will play a subtle role with the same dedication as I will do an aggressive, hypermasculine role.”
{{/usCountry}}Shergill has played an Air Force officer before in Agnipankh (2004) and in Dharti (2011) too. Getting to play a part of the IAF again brought back those memories for him. “When I was at the airbase, I straightaway went back to 2001-02 when I was shooting for Agnipankh and then later on to 2010 when I was shooting for Dharti and doing the same things I was doing back then,” he reminisces.
While during those earlier films he was learning from more experienced actors on set, here he had four young actors — Abhay Verma, Mihir Ahuja, Taaruk Raina and Arnav Bhasin — who were looking up to him. Shergill is all praise for this young crop of actors. “The boys are brilliant and more than what they took away from me or I took away from them, it’s important to say that they were brilliant in their characters. I was part of scenes where they were performing in front of me and I was so happy to see them do so well. You just know that something good is going to come out of it. It’s important to appreciate good talent and they were brilliant,” he ends.