Jimmy Shergill says he was paid Rs 20,000 as remuneration for Gulzar’s Maachis, took money from parents until he landed Yash Chopra’s Mohabbatein

Jimmy Shergill said that Gulzar made him read the script of Maachis and told him to select the role he would like to play.

By: Entertainment Desk

New Delhi | April 29, 2024 08:30 PM IST

2 min read

Jimmy Shergill opened up about his first film. (Photo: Jimmy/Instagram)

Bollywood actor Jimmy Shergill has opened up about how he landed his first film Maachis. The actor recounted the day when he was introduced to Gulzar, who offered him the movie. However, Jimmy originally requested Gulzar to keep him as Assistant Director on the film. Jimmy also revealed the remuneration he received for the movie.

In a conversation with Sushant Sinha, Jimmy said that after completing his film studies, he didn’t want to go back home and decided to stay in Bombay. When he heard about the movie Maachis through his mutual contacts, the actor took the opportunity and met Gulzar, requesting him to keep him as an AD.

However, Gulzar asked Jimmy, “If you do acting, why do you want to come into direction?” Jimmy replied, “I have heard that here nobody gets a break until after five or six years and I don’t want to go home.” Gulzar told Jimmy to read the script of the film. Jimmy said, “After reading the script, he asked, ‘Which role did you like? If you had to do a role, which would it be?’ I said, ‘I think I should do Jimmy. My pet name is Jimmy.’ I met him as Jasjit Shergill.”

Also read | Jimmy Shergill was taken aback by Amitabh Bachchan’s sense of humour during their first meet at Yash Chopra’s house: ‘Abhi se haath katwane lag gaye’

The actor added, “I had to listen to a lot of taunts. A lot of people said things like ‘Are you mad? This is a small role. Wait for your time to come.’” Talking about his remuneration for the film, Jimmy said, “I think it was somewhere around Rs 20,000. I was lucky that my family was supporting me. This went on till I got Mohabbatein. Once Mohabbatein came, I slowly reduced taking money from home.

Jimmy Shergill is currently seen in Ranneeti: Balakot & Beyond.

From the homepage