The terrific terrorist

"‘#Jim Sarbh. The man who stole the show by playing the role of terrorist Khalil in Neerja. #Jim, my Parsi boy, I’m having the hots for you. You are my new obsession!’ People are sending me this kind of stuff,” conveys Sarbh when asked how his life has changed over the last month since his debut in the Bollywood film Neerja that released on February 19, 2016. The movie, based on the true life story of the Pan Am hijacking in 1986, became an instant hit and even earned tax exempt status in the states of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.
The national media acclaimed Jim’s performance as "brilliant,” "remarkable,” "absolutely outstanding,” "find of the year,” "steals the show.” Additionally he has been receiving accolades from well-known cine stars like Aamir Khan, Karan Grover, Dia Mirza, and directors like Anurag Kashyap. One of the most telling comments on buzzfeed.com read, "He did a damn good job. Such a good job that nobody can decide whether to loathe him or love him.”

Jim Sarbh in Neerja Photo: Shivaji Sen

The audience cannot but admire Sarbh for slipping under the thick skin of Khalil, the ruthless Palestinian terrorist from the Abu Nidal Organisation. Flooded with adulatory messages on Twitter, Instagram, Newsfeed, Sarbh states he now has "to spend more time responding to messages.” When he goes to a coffee shop the actor is bemused when fans come up to him "to shake hands or click photos… I am very happy when friends whom I haven’t seen in ages call me” to revive old memories.
"I have been so busy that I haven’t had the time” to dwell on any other issues, he remarks. Alternating between the limelight and the shadows, Sarbh confesses, "It’s weird going between two states” — of being a somebody and a nobody. In Bombay, to fulfill his commitments for the play The Living Room directed by Kalki Koechlin, as also auditioning for some other roles he finds his talent is in the news. In Ranchi during end February/early March where he was shooting for "a very small role of an insecure but sweet and good-natured guy” in Konkana Sen Sharma’s film A Death in the Gunj, he felt he was insignificant.
"Frankly, all I want is more work… on screen,” specifies Sarbh who has already worked for 15 theater productions in the last four years starting with Ok Tata, Bye Bye where he played the role of a foreigner. After doing English theater would he be able to do Hindi films? "If I could speak in Arabic for Neerja, why wouldn’t I be able to speak in Hindi?” counters the 28-year-old Bombay born Sarbh who had spent his formative years in the city studying at the American School before pursuing his graduation in psychology from Emory University, Atlanta. To learn his Arabic lines for Neerja, fortunately Sarbh had a month’s time to revise from the text and even gave a test to ensure that his Arabic sounded authentic.
During the shooting of the film in the first quarter of 2015, he was required to devote a 14-day schedule on the simulated aircraft that resembled the Pan Am plane where 22-year-old head purser Neerja Bhanot was shot dead while trying to protect the lives of 359 travelers aboard the hijacked aircraft in Karachi. Three more days of shooting captured how the terrorists are being readied for their hijack operation with the necessary ammunition. "The parts on the plane, particularly the first few days were extremely stressful,” recalls Sarbh as there had never been a prior rehearsal. The terrorists had neither been introduced to those playing the role of the flight attendants and the passengers, nor were they given explicit instructions on "how to deal with them.” Reliving those moments of anxiety, the young thespian rattled off, without a pause, how the terrorists were required to run up the stairway, barge their way into the aircraft, create panic among the crew and passengers, compel Neerja (played by Sonam Kapoor) to lead him to the cockpit, kick open the cockpit door which was locked from inside and "all this whilst remembering my lines in Arabic.”
"The first take of the hijack scene was 45-minute long” which was subsequently edited to portray the devious and devilish intent of four terrorists who show total disregard when gunning down innocent hostages. The main difference between a real and enacted hijack, points out Sarbh, is that in reality, the lives of hostages and terrorists "are on the line. Here my performance was on the line.”

Jim Sarbh with Sonam Kapoor in Neerja

With his piercing eyes, venom spitting countenance, firm grip of his fingers on the gun, ready to pull the trigger at the slightest provocation, Khalil effortlessly intimidates the innocent. One of the most frequently used expressions in Khalil’s limited English vocabulary is the vile threat: "I shoot.” It is not only the passengers on the flight who fear his every move, even the audience looks out for him. Over the course of the pre-shoot workshop, Sarbh came to understand "the big power of Khalil. He is not the biggest guy. He looks normal but suddenly this small guy becomes humongous.”
While shooting was on, "I didn’t have much of a social life. After a full day’s shoot, I would just go home, eat and sleep.” This schedule, he felt, helped him better emote Khalil who is "hot-tempered, impatient, hard on himself and others, doesn’t want to hear criticism.” Since shooting for Neerja was done daily, it followed a sequential order and was easy for the cast to continue from where they had stopped the prior day. Once he had finished with the role of Khalil it was as if "a huge weight had been lifted off me,” reveals Sarbh.
The film directed by Ram Madhvani was made with a budget of Rs 20 crore and had grossed an estimated Rs 70.73 crore (US $ 10 million) internationally as of March 1, 2016, states Wikipedia. It was produced by Atul Kasbekar with Fox Star Studios as the production company.
The actor’s parents Lale and Jimmy Sarbh were "over the moon when I got a part in the film,” and even happier after the premier of the movie "when everyone came and shook hands with me.” They always believed that their son could act, but seeing recognition come from the film world reinforced their faith in his talents, observed the first generation thespian.
A regular on the Bombay stage having acted with most groups, co-written one play, directed two, co-directed one, and co-devised another, the theater circuit associates Sarbh with his Parsi roots and he is comfortable with the acceptance and acclaim he has received from the Bombay audiences. Last year he featured in the Forbes India "30 under 30” for shining in the art and culture category (see "The spark in Sarbh,” Events and Personalities, Parsiana, March 7, 2015). The list showcased an enterprising new generation that dreams big and refuses to say die, noted the Forbes website, specifying "we have focused on those at the precipice of greatness… We looked for spark…”
"I want people to react to my acting and not public persona,” declares Sarbh who after his Bollywood stint has been propelled in the public domain. When personal teasers are directed at him: "Hey Jim…I’m free today. Take me hostage?” he is not sure how to react. "Do you tease them back? Do you become diplomatic?”
One of the jokes on Twitter showed him to be a Parsi and gave that as a reason why "Parsis should procreate more!” Although not one to pray in the traditional sense since he neither wears the sudreh-kusti, nor recites the Avestan prayers, Sarbh prefers to pursue a vegetarian lifestyle, "meditate, do yoga, breathing, chanting to keep in communion with the inner self.”