He gained recognition as the romantic hero in "Mohabbatein" but Jimmy Shergill says he decided to opt for strong characters as he realised the shelf life of a lover boy was not long. The 45-year-old "Traffic" actor, who made his debut in Bollywood with Gulzar's directorial venture "Maachis", believes his decision play roles like 'Raja Awasthi' and 'Saheb' made him sustain in the industry.
Jimmy Shergill said “After I made my debut with 'Maachis', people would not recognise the clean-shaven me. But then 'Mohabbatein' happened. It got me a lot of work. However, in my mind I wanted to do something which makes me stand out. I couldn't have survived with lover boy image.
“It was a conscious decision to choose films like 'Haasil', 'Munna Bhai MBBS' and 'Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster'. This is what has made me sustain for approximately 20 years otherwise that lover boy would have been lost somewhere,” Jimmy added.
The actor shares a great bond with all his directors, who tend to repeat him in their films be it Neeraj Pandey, Aanand L Rai or Tigmanshu Dhulia.
Jimmy credits the emotional connect he has with all these filmmakers behind this. “The directors repeat me because most of them have done their first film with me. We are friends and there is this emotional connect. Even if we are not doing films, we meet over a cup of coffee. We share memories and it is very nice on their part that even after becoming top directors they have not forgotten me,” the actor added.
The "Tanu Weds Manu Returns" actor will next be seen in Irrfan Khan starrer "Maadari". “It was nice on his part to think that I am apt for the role. When I heard the script, I was blown away and I wanted to this story to be told. There is a huge emotional attachment to the story of the film,' says Jimmy.
Directed by Nishikant Kamat, "Maadari" will hit the theatres on July 22.