Meet Jacob Smith, the Scottish child who was ‘plucked from KG’ to play Raj in Kriti Sanon-starrer Mimi

It was a stroke of luck that led to the Scottish child Jacob Smith being cast in the recent Netflix and JioCinema release Mimi, starring Kriti Sanon and Pankaj Tripathi. Jacob plays Mimi’s son Raj in the film, produced by Dinesh Vijan and directed by Laxman Utekar.

In an interview, Jacob’s parents recalled how he came to be cast in the film. A few years ago, the family of four had relocated to Goa, as a part of their ‘big crazy dream’ to travel across the globe, which included stops in Jordan and Albania. Jacob was ‘plucked from the nursery’.

“We got talking to them and one thing led to another and that’s how Jacob ended up in the movie,” Jacob’s father, Kris, told BBC Scotland News. “They had been looking all over India for six months, so we genuinely didn’t think they would pick our wee Jacob. They chose him because the director was able to get him to perform on set, which is seriously impressive because he has the attention span of a gnat at times!”

Following Jacob’s casting, the family moved to Mumbai, where he was enrolled in acting classes, and then to Rajasthan, where Mimi was shot. Jacob was three at the time. He is now five years old.

“We felt a bit of trepidation whether to put our son into that spotlight. It concerned us to an extent, but once we started speaking to the production company, they managed to ease our concerns,” Jacob’s father said.

Jacob’s mother, Julie, said that the cast and crew took care of the child, and that they never envisioned him as a child actor — the experience neatly fit into their travel schedule. “He learned the lines, but he’s a Scottish boy and in the film he’s an Indian boy brought up in Rajasthan, so they couldn’t use his actual voice because he doesn’t have the dialect. They dubbed over his voice in the end, but if you watch the film his lips work really well with the lines. Everyone in India would know that he was Scottish with his north-east Hindi twang!” she said.

Also read: Mimi movie review: Kriti Sanon’s film is nothing unexpected; wastes Pankaj Tripathi, Manoj Pahwa

Mimi was supposed to release on Friday, but instead debuted on Monday, following a leak. Officially, however, the team maintains that the early release was put together to coincide with Kriti Sanon’s birthday.