Jimmy Sheirgill says he didn’t have ‘luxury’ to wait for lead roles: ‘Not that I have got anything on a platter’

Actor Jimmy Sheirgill, who completes 25 years in Bollywood this year, said that he did not have the ‘luxury’ to wait for ‘hero’ roles to come his way. He said that he took up any ‘interesting’ roles that came his way, without thinking that he will only play lead roles.

Jimmy Sheirgill made his acting debut with Maachis in 1996 but got his breakthrough with Mohabbatein in 2000. He has played supporting roles in many hits including Munna Bhai MBBS, Hum Tum, Tanu Weds Manu and Special 26.

In an interview with radio host Siddharth Kannan, on being asked how he managed to survive in the film industry for two-and-a-half decades, Jimmy said that he ‘tried to adapt’ to all kinds of situations. He stood by the choices he made and said that it was the ‘best option’ for him at that point of time.

“Mera toh iss industry mein koi nahi tha toh mujhe isi tareeke se apna career dikha, ki kahin kuch interesting mila woh kar liya, yeh nahi socha ki main sirf hero hi karunga aur uske baad phir do saal ghar pe baitha reh gaya. Woh sab luxury mere paas nahi thi isliye mujhe woh saare roles choose karne pade jo maine kiye finally (I did not have a godfather in this industry so I just took up any interesting roles that came my way. I did not think that I would only play the hero and then sat at home for two years waiting. I did not have that luxury, so I chose the roles I ended up doing),” he said.

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“Kai baar log mereko poochte hai, ‘Aapko kya zaroorat thi? Aap achcha bhala hero ka role kar rahe the. Aapko yeh chhota role karne ki kya zaroorat thi? Usse aap typecast ho gaye, uss wajah se aapko aise roles milte hai’ (People often ask me why I took up small roles after playing the lead role and tell me that I got typecast in supporting roles). I turn around and say, ‘Boss, at that point of time, that was the best option for me and I chose it and I went ahead and did it. I am proud and glad that I did that.’ That’s how it has been, it’s not that I have got anything on a platter,” he added.

Jimmy was recently seen in Collar Bomb, alongside Asha Negi. The film, which has him playing a police officer, got a direct-to-digital release on Disney+ Hotstar.