All fine Yahaan and now
RANA SIDDIQUI
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Jimmy Sheirgill is on a high after the tremendous response to "Yahaan" in trial shows and in a film festival.
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PHOTO: SANDEEP SAXENA
THE SKY'S THE LIMIT A new - found confidence for Jimmy Sheirgill after "Yahaan".
These days, Jimmy Sheirgill (yes, he added this extra `i' during "Haasil" on Jumani's suggestion) is grinning from ear to ear. This, you would soon make out, is the smile of `success'. The success of his latest film "Yahaan" to be released this Friday. The success at least in "a couple of trial shows" and at a film festival in Delhi.Says an overwhelmed Jimmy, "The response to `Yahaan' has brought back my confidence. I saw audience `picking up' things in the film. They were clapping on dialogues, laughing in humorous scenes and there was a pin-drop silence during intense moments. Many were wiping their eyes at the fate of the lovers and smiling when they saw a not-so-dramatic first meeting of Adaa and Aman (the protagonists - Minissha and Jimmy). What made my heart filled with gratitude was the standing ovation the film got when it ended."
Best and risky
And since then, Jimmy has been calling it his best film so far, the best character he has played so far, the best performance he has given so far and Shoojit Sircar as the best director he has worked with.
Jimmy says he was "feeling very low" before he started shooting for the film partly because he never carried a film on his shoulders solely and partly, as his earlier films didn't do well at the box office. From "Mohabattein" to "Agnipankh", Jimmy's work was appreciated but it hardly culminated in bigger or solo roles. The film is shot in the sensitive, unexplored areas of Kashmir. Jimmy's close friends live in Kashmir, it is a second home for him, he says. He knows the background of almost every "inner areas" and hence, was very apprehensive about shooting there. He warned Shoojit too.
"When Shoojit told me about the volatile areas (Habba Kadal, Makhdoom shrine etc) of shooting, I asked him if he knew their background. He said he did and he still wanted to shoot." So Jimmy added to his information that "lasted two hours" on their way to actual locations in a jeep.
Shooting in these areas had its own share of risks involved, he says. "A jawan in army uniform is a vulnerable man there. I was quite scared sporting this uniform though we had Rashtriya Rifle jawans with us. When they handed me over a real rifle to carry while roaming in these areas, I asked them to take out its magazine. They said, `we can't do that. In case, firing starts from any side, you will have to backfire.' I had my heart in my mouth. Then rushing through the lanes amidst people who didn't know it was a shooting, was itself a risky affair, but a motivating experience nonetheless," recalls Jimmy.
What's more, Jimmy was also reminded of his roots, Punjab, and his "duty" towards it. So he just completed a Punjabi film on the problems of the youth in the State. The film "Yaran Nal Baharan", is directed by Manmohan Singh and stars Juhi Babbar.
"I thought it was my duty as a Punjabi to do a Punjabi film," he says.
For now, he is "busy answering congratulatory e-mails and messages " for his performance in "Yahaan". And this Friday will decide if the film will "go down in the history as a classic", as he would like to see it.
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