Exclusive! Jim Sarbh: A scene that chokes me up is one where someone hides how upset they are

Jim Sarbh has caught people’s attention once again by playing Dr. Homi Bhabha in Sony LIV’s web series, Rocket Boys. His various aspects have been explored in the series, including a scene with his lover Dipsi (played by Saba Azad), where Dr. Bhabha (Jim) attends her wedding and then, simply walks out with a smile. While talking to OTTplay, Jim discussed the scene and much more. Excerpts…

Being a Parsi myself, I know that it is not easy to even try and think about somebody as Dr. Homi Bhabha and I also believe that if any actor could do it, it was you. So, tell me, what was going on in your mind when you knew you were playing Dr. Bhabha and what extra measures did you take to make sure that you did justice to the legend?

I was excited as soon as they offered me a part because he is a giant, not just in the field of science but also a giant personality. The thing that Bhabha family has done for Arts and Culture as well, it’s just astounding. The more I learnt about him, the more excited I got. I had the base already and then every other detail just made it better. I would hear and read about his scientific accomplishments and see the kind of man he was. I read some of his personal correspondence where he’s saying things like, “I want to increase the consciousness of my life. The only thing I have is my emotions and consciousness. Since I can’t increase the duration of my life because death is inevitable and nobody knows what comes next and nor do I care. However, I will try to increase the consciousness and emotions of life by living with a higher intensity.” A person who is trying to squeeze the juice out of the abundance that is present, it’s just such an inspirational character beyond his scientific achievements.

How I got into the skin of the character, just after the all the research that we did, we had to look at his approach to life. This is somebody who thinks faster than I do and is smarter than I am. Consequently, we would try to understand how to represent his approach. For that, me and Abhay would keep doing workshops and notice what Dr. Bhabha was like.

Tell me about your childhood. Of course, it is evident that you love art but were you also passionate about science and the marvel that the subject brings on the table?

Not particularly (pauses). I studied psychology for my bachelors so I haven’t shied away from science. I enjoy learning it and studying about it. I continue to really enjoy it, particularly the plant and animal life. I even got to do a scene in the library which spoke about the first thing which gave scientists an opportunity to study the plants’ responses to stimuli. I’m still fascinated by that. I still love to read books on animal behaviour. There’s a great book by Wohlleben Peter called The Secret Network of Nature. It’s so interesting. So, yeah, I’ve been interested but never pursued it that much. I’m more interested in the day-to-day human uses of it than the actual nitty-gritties of science. The only nitty-gritties I’m interested in are acting.

Dr. Bhabha was a person who would appreciate honest people over the bootlicking system or someone going the extra mile. Do you find that impressive too?

Yes, absolutely. There’s a great moment where he’s talking to the Maharaja of Travancore and he says, “Can I be honest with you?” and my character goes, “I wonder why more people don’t.” That’s basically his philosophy and it’s a great philosophy. Like, yeah man, come to the point. Say the real thing. Say it nicely but say it. Don’t try to trick me with words, you know. I know where you’re going.

You ventured into the OTT space completely thanks to Rocket Boys. Did you enjoy the format or would you rather stick to films?

I like all formats – short films, feature films, OTT. It just depends on the project. There’s no hard-and-fast rule. It’s more based on the content, director and production house than on like one particular thing. The menu has just opened up. Previously, it was just cinema. Back then, that’s all you ate so that’s all you knew. The views are so broad now. You could pick Asian one day, East-Asian, South-Asian, Australian, American, African films. It’s just so well-varied at this point that the audience is becoming sharper and has just a broader perspective. If I eat only Mc Donalds then I feel only that is the best.

Jim, you started your career by playing this deadly terrorist in Neerja, who was the clear antagonist, then you played very powerful roles that were supporting characters and now you are here, in a lead role. Is that how you imagined your career shaping up? Also, where do you plan to go from here?

Can you imagine me saying no, I didn’t imagine this? Of course, I wanted this.

I never thought I would do only one genre of roles. I never believe that or thought about it. I just kept acting.

One of my favourite scenes featuring you come early on in the series. It is where you prove that you are done with the world's tantrums without saying any words. You sit on the table and simply use your expressions which convey the message loud and clear. For me, I believe that it is such scenes that define an actor over you know, using words. So, tell me, was that scene actually the same as the script or it was a spontaneous thing, because the scene is very you as well.

I made zero decisions separate of Abhay Pannu. I’ve had longer correspondence with Abhay this one year than I had with people my whole life. We would discuss the scenes to depth. Nikkhil Advani sir would be like, “Why are you discussing the scene again!? Go ahead, the scene is very good!” We would be like, “Yes, it is very good but we want to make it even better.” Of course, he’s just teasing us. The most support we got is from Nikkhil Advani sir. He’s backed Abhay so well that it’s very inspiring to think that your boss could really just go out on the limb for you like that. So, full respect to Nikkhil Advani and Sid Roy Kapur. That aside, me and Abhay would sit down and churn the scenes over and over and over. The scene did have more text than sub-text in the original thing. Just after reading it many times and trying many things, he actually came out with the re-written scene where he just took out a lot of the text and made it into sub-text. I find the unsaid to be the most beautiful. I find the person who is fighting against crime to be a lot more beautiful than someone who just cries. A scene that chokes me up is one where I watch someone restraining and hiding when they are just so upset! We tried to achieve that with the scene of Dipsi’s wedding. He doesn’t say anything and leaves. He just smiles and leaves. It’s the saddest smile on Earth. For me, that’s the saddest moment – when a person who should be in tears is controlling that and acting right. He’s doing the correct thing. He just couldn’t have gone to the wedding but he went. He couldn’t bring himself to go up and meet them but he’s not going to show Dipsi how sad he is. He's just going to smile. I love it!

If you were in that situation, would you have reacted the same way?

No, no. I would have cried. I don’t know. I’ve never been in this situation so I don’t know what I would do.

Now, we hear that a new season is coming out but what is Rocket Boys without Bhabha? What are your views on that?

He’s not dead yet so why not wait for season 2?

You will once again be seen as one of the male characters on Gangubai Kathiawadi. Tell me, despite being an actor of your callibre, is it tough to find Bollywood films where you play the lead?

Sadly, I can’t talk about it.

Can we say that the scenario has changed after Rocket Boys?

Arre baba, it has just come out on Friday! Thoda time toh jaane de na. We’ll talk about it again in a month.

OTT does not have a concept of hit or flop. It doesn't even have a timeline - that this content can be viewed within say 30 days or it won't be available after that. Does that make you happy as an actor?

Sure, but now-a-days films also go on OTT so things have a life beyond their cinema life. It’s always good. I like that I can watch movies again or missed in the cinema. Obviously, I like that it’s accessible to people in a way that it’s monetized.

Not everything works on OTT either. Things always depend on your last project. It will always be involved and you will get projects accordingly.