Jim Sarbh is upbeat about his Telugu debut ‘Kuberaa’, and ‘Pune Highway’, which will be released soon
Jim Sarbh, who attracted the attention of both filmmakers and audiences with his debut National Award-winning feature Neerja, and was cast as the slave general Malick Kafur in Padmavat by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, is waiting for the release of Pune Highway, based on the acclaimed play by the same name.
He is also debuting in a Telugu film, Kuberaa, directed by Shekhar Kammula.
Jim talks about his experience working in both films. Excerpts:
QTell us about your character in ‘Pune Highway.’
I play a lawyer who represents his friends. Besides being a sharp lawyer, he is a loyal guy who believes in sticking to friendships. Many of us have childhood groups, people we’ve been friends with for many years. So, I think the film will resonate with people.
QYour definition of friends and friendship?
You don’t choose your family, but you do choose your friends. And that’s for life.
QAt one point, you didn’t want to do villain roles. Has that changed?
I’ve played all kinds of characters, from the negative to the positive and the great. I don’t think about cinema in terms of positive, negative, hero, villain, I look on them as characters. I’ve always been interested in playing complicated characters, whatever they may be.
We have these tropes of a fully ‘white’ hero who does everything right, a heroine that supports the hero, but who most often is a damsel in distress with no agency of her own, and a villain who is totally black. They get repeated not only in Bollywood and India but all over the world. I’ve never been particularly drawn to those stories.
QTell us about your character in ‘Kuberaa’.
I don’t know what I can and cannot say, so I won’t say much about the film. It’s almost like an allegory or a parable of three different classes.
QWhat was it like to work with Tollywood technicians?
They are lovely people. They are so warm. They’re so happy with what’s happening on the set. They create such a loving, safe, happy environment that you really feel you can go there and you can try things and you can experiment.
It was great working in a different language. It was difficult. It was challenging. I had to mug up the lines.
QDid you say your own lines?
Yeah, I said all my lines in Telugu.
QTell us about the ‘Kuberaa’ team.
Director Shekhar Kammula has earned a reputation for doing good films. We have a great cast — there’s Dhanush, Nagarjuna sir, Rashmika Mandanna; and there’s me. I’m the rich guy in this particular scenario.
