Spotlight Between and 35

With two back-to-back film releases slated this month, theatre and film actor Jagjeet Sandhu is anticipating meatier roles and unique characters

Cut to fifteen years ago—his relatives and others in his native village Himmatgarh in Punjab would always laugh whenever he said that he wanted to be an actor. It was the time when no one in his village had seen the face of a university and acting meant performing on the streets. But 26-year-old Jagjeet Sandhu, who made his debut with Taran Mann’s Punjabi film Rupinder Gandhi (2015) and started doing street theatre ever since he was in class IV, always knew that he would undergo rigorous formal training to understand the nuances of this art form. “The National School of Drama (NSD) in Delhi was the ultimate aim. Though it didn’t work out as I was underage, and therefore had to seek admission to Panjab University’s Theatre Department in Chandigarh. But I have no regrets” he says.

Sandhu, who also performs with Neelam Mansingh Chowdhry’s theatre group The Company and was seen in her latest production Dark Borders and Deepa Mehta’s film Anatomy of Violence. He is excited about his forthcoming films, both of which will be releasing this August. “Vikram Thori’s Rocky Mental (August 18) and Rupinder Gandhi 2 will see me in absolutely different roles,” says the actor who was also seen in Qissa Punjab (2015), directed by Jatinder Mauhar.

Ask if he feels any difficulty oscillating between theatre and cinema, and Sandhu is quick to assert, “I don’t let their techniques interact and have equal respect for both the mediums. So, there is seldom any confusion,” says the actor who is now looking out for scripts that go beyond the set formulae. He feels that working with young directors who are not averse to trying something new would be an enriching experience. “Slowly but surely, Punjabi film directors are realising that the audience has exposure to intelligent cinema from other Indian languages and abroad. Their approach is changing,” says Sandhu.

Cut to present—whenever he visits his village, everyone wants a photograph with him.