Jimmy Shergill was in awe of Gulzar when he saw him filming a dog on first day of Maachis, thought ‘Ye agar kutte se achi acting karva lete hain toh…’

Later, after knowing that Jimmy is training to become an actor, Gulzar asked him to read the script of Maachis and then meet him. When Gulzar asked the actor in the second meeting how he found the script, Jimmy tried to portray himself as the one who is most eligible to become an assistant director. Little did he know that he would be cast in the film as Jaimal ‘Jimmy’ Singh.

“He asked me which character I liked the most. I told him I liked Jimmy since my nickname is also Jimmy. So, he told me, ‘Grow your hair, grow your beard, you are playing Jimmy.’ I didn’t know where to look, or what to say. This was just my second or third meeting with him,” shared Jimmy, while adding that he never auditioned for the role.

After getting the role, Jimmy made two calls, one to his family in Delhi to tell them that he was not returning and staying in Mumbai, and another to Chandrachur Singh to inform him that he was also a part of the film.

Jimmy also recalled visiting Gulzar’s office with Chandrachur and asking him to rehearse for his scenes. But the filmmaker told him to relax, “Everything will happen.” When the film’s schedule started in Film City in Mumbai, the first shot that Gulzar took was of the dog, leaving Jimmy and Chandrachur in awe of him. “That day that big Alsatian had come. We saw Gulzar sahab filming that animal, and I looked at Chandrachur and he looked at me, and we were like, ‘Ye agar kutte se itni achi acting karva lete hain toh hum logg se toh karva hi lenge pakka (If he can make a dog act, he can definitely make us act).’ So, we used to get confident.”

Jimmy Shergill got two orange candies from Gulzar

Gulzar had his way of rewarding his actors on the set of Maachis. Jimmy revealed that the filmmaker gave them orange candies if they performed well. The actor shared, “There was one major scene of mine which I was tensed about from the beginning of the shoot. It was 3-4 pages. Finally, the day came, and he came to me when the lights and camera were being set up. He read the scene to me and a tear fell from his eye. He told me, ‘Just make sure that tear doesn’t fall from your eye.’ And then that scene happened, and I got two candies for that scene.”

Jimmy Shergill and Chandrachur Singh on the set of Maachis. (Express archive photo by RD Rai)

Jimmy also revealed that he was paid somewhere between Rs 11,000 to 20,000 for Maachis, and the signing amount was Rs 2000. “I was not even depositing it in the bank because I thought I would frame it and keep it. But then somebody told me, ‘Bewakoof, you put your first salary in the bank so that you grow’. That is when I deposited that cheque in the bank,” the actor shared.

Maachis, which was released in 1996, won two National Awards – Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment, and Best Actress. After Maachis, it took Jimmy Shergill four years to make the audience take notice of him in Aditya Chopra’s Mohabbatein (2000).

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