‘DON’T KNOW WHY ACTORS ARE STILL CAST BASED ON ARCHETYPES’

As an artist, Jim Sarbh doesn’t want to limit himself. For instance, he does not believe in the good-bad binary when it comes to characters and stories on screen. And that is why the Neerja (2016) actor doesn’t believe in assigning categories like hero or villain to characters.

“I don’t believe in such divisions, these are just archetypes. Every character has various shades to it, and at one point, only one shade is more prominent than the others. That’s what happens in reality. So, I don’t understand when they still cast actors based on these archetypes,” says the actor.

Jim has received appreciation for his performances in Neerja, A Death in the Gunj (2017), Padmaavat (2017) and Sanju, all films where he played antagonists. Is there a difference in the kind of characters would he want to play, now? “It all depends on what the character is about. I don’t think of characters as negative, as I said before. It’s just a character shade and I respect them all.”

Meanwhile, on the work front, Jim’s latest outing is the web series Smoke. He also has two more films coming up — Three and a Half, and Jonaki. Besides these, Jim is also looking forward to his next play, Constellation. And the actor says it’s after a long time that he is getting back to stage. “I am looking forward to be in theatre again. We have just started the rehearsals and will figure out a premier date soon. It’s love story,” he says.

Jim has also tried his hand at direction. His play, Bull, staged in 2014, received good reviews. Does he plan to direct anything soon? “I do plan to direct another play, but I don’t know when. I am discussing a few more film offers,” Jim signs off.