Jim Sarbh reflects on drawing lessons from theatre on camera: 'Acting is just about unravelling inner workings of a character'

The popularity of Jim Sarbh is proof that audiences care as much about substance as style. The actor manages to leave an impression, regardless of the length of his role. He was seen recently in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s film _Gangubai Kathiawadi_ (2022), which has earned commercial success and critical acclaim. While Alia Bhatt is the star who carries the biopic on her shoulders, Sarbh accomplishes what few can with the limited screentime he was given. I met him at the Kolkata Literary Meet last week. In a brief interaction at the authors’ lounge, Sarbh spoke to me about playing the role of journalist Amin Faizi in Bhansali’s blockbuster.   Was the character based on Hussain Zaidi, the author who wrote the book Mafia Queens of Mumbai: Stories of Women from the Ganglands (2011) with Jane Borges? He replied, “No, the character was based on a journalist who put Gangubai Kathiawadi on a magazine cover.” Faizi appears quite late in Bhansali’s film but his contributions are immeasurable. He watches Gangubai argue passionately with the administrative heads of a school that refuses to admit daughters of sex workers. He is captivated by her inner strength, and her outer struggle to demand and secure opportunities for these girls to study so that they do not have to continue in the profession that their mothers were forced into. When a magazine publishes her story, he encourages her to capitalise on the media attention and connects her to a local politician. Sarbh said, “I was trying to get into the spirit of what I believed was the character’s role within the larger context of the film, which was essentially to finally have her meet a gentle gentleman. He is in awe of her but never, even remotely, crosses that line between admiration and, not desire, but possessive love. When he thinks of Gangubai, it’s just awe and wonder.” [caption id=“attachment_10501581” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] A still from Gangubai Kathiawadi[/caption] The local politician is aware of Gangubai’s towering influence in Mumbai’s Kamathipura. He wants her to join hands with him so that her support can be used to mobilise voters in the upcoming elections. In return, he promises to get Gangubai an appointment with the Prime Minister. The promise is kept. Gangubai steps out of Kamathipura, and goes off to Delhi. How did Sarbh prepare himself to play this character, which is totally different from Malik Kafur – the character that he played in Bhansali’s period drama _Padmaavat_  (2018), a film that was loosely based on Malik Muhammad Jayasi’s epic poem Padmavat (1540)?   He told me, “It’s Sanjay Leela Bhansali, so you have to come very competent to the set. There is no time to waste. You have to get it right at every magnification, so it’s not like other sets where sometimes you hear people say, ‘Close up mein sambhaal lenge.’ (We’ll fix things in the close-up shot).’ No, you have to get it right time and time again in the wide, in the close, in the mid, over the shoulder, you have to bring in your best in all those situations.” Sarbh also draws on his academic training in psychology and his professional experience in theatre to get into the skin of his characters. He has an undergraduate degree in psychology from Emory University in the United States. He has worked with the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia. In Mumbai, he has been directed by theatre veterans such as Alyque Padamsee, Vickram Kapadia, and Rajat Kapoor. These adventures have enriched him.   When I asked Sarbh to shed light on how this background helps him with his work on screen, he said, “Psychology is helpful because you approach a character trying to understand their inner workings, and knowing that whatever their actions may be, they have an absolutely justified path of how they have got to that based on their environment and genetic structure.” He added, “Acting is just about unravelling that path. They aren’t judging themselves in the way that we might judge them from the outside. If we were privy to every moment of their lives and understood their genetic make-up, their actions would make absolute sense to us.” [caption id=“attachment_9744721” align=“alignnone” width=“640”]  Jim Sarbh in Rocket Boys[/caption] While Sarbh is able to analyse the mindscape of different characters, he tries not to overthink when he works on a project. Being stuck in a character’s head can lead to an utterly boring interpretation of a character. “In my opinion, an actor’s job is to act, not think,” he said. According to him, it is advisable not to be too bogged down by ideas of what a character would and would not do because “people tend to surprise themselves all the time.” Having worked in theatre, Sarbh is used to the practice of doing multiple rehearsals because the process of repetition helps theatre actors sharpen their performance each time. When he works on Bollywood films, there is hardly enough rehearsal time built into those projects.   How does he cope with this reality? He said, “If you don’t have rehearsal time, you can only do the best you can do that day, which is subject to the human factor. You might knock it out of the park or you might have had a terrible day leading to a terrible mood. I rely very much on rehearsal. For me as an actor, that’s the only way to keep improving, keep getting better.” Sarbh has been greatly appreciated for playing scientist Homi Jehangir Bhabha in the series _Rocket Boys_ (2022), created by Nikkhil Advani and directed by Abhay Pannu. He was invited by the Kolkata Literary Meet to speak about this once-in-a-lifetime role. The actor’s fans had gathered in huge numbers to meet him and listen. There was much whistling and applause.   Bhabha, known as the father of the Indian nuclear programme, was a big supporter of the arts in addition to his varied interests in science. Sarbh said, “Whenever he started an institution, he made sure that one per cent of the budget was kept for promoting the modern Indian arts. He travelled all over India upon coming back from Cambridge because he had the sneaking suspicion that Europe is not the epicentre of culture as people had been made to believe.” Sarbh remarked that the second season of Rocket Boys might release later this year but was non-committal about the dates. He is not allowed to talk about it. The second season of _Made in Heaven_ , a 2019 series created by Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti, will also feature Sarbh.   When I asked what audiences can expect from him this time, his eyes lit up with a mischievous smile. He said, “I have finished my last day of shooting. I can’t tell you anything about the plot or what I’m doing in Season 2. But wait and watch, Adil Khanna is coming!” Chintan Girish Modi is a writer, journalist, commentator, and book reviewer. Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News ,  India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.