Jim Sarbh: ‘I’m Not Much Of A Watch Guy’

‘I do have a couple watches that I like very much, one my dad gave me. But I only wear it with a more formal kind of a look… Otherwise, in my day-to-day life, I don’t wear a watch.’

Jim Sarbh cannot make akhuri as well as the late Titan founder Xerxes Desai — though he insists that he can make scrambled eggs “really, really well”.

Jim helps Xerxes come alive superbly in Made In India: A Titan Story, as the biopic series shows us how the Tata’s iconic watch brand Titan was born. Directed by Robbie Grewal, the series scores in its feel-good sincerity.

Among his many favourite bits about the show, Jim tells Ronjita Kulkarni/Rediff, is singing the evergreen song Hai Apna Dil To Awara from Dev Anand’s 1958 film, Solva Saal.

“I love that song, and I got to sing along to it! I was like, wait, I can actually sing along to it? We’re actually going to use this in the show?” Jim says excitedly.

Do you wear a watch?

I’m not much of a watch guy, to be very honest. I do have a couple watches that I like very much, one my dad gave me. But I only wear it with a more formal kind of a look. I feel it completes a suit really nicely. Otherwise, in my day-to-day life, I don’t wear a watch.

Do you own a Titan?

No, I don’t.

Did you actually shave your head for the show?

Yes, yes!

Didn’t that affect your personal life?

Yes, very much so. I wore hats. I had to do some promotional shoots and some ad shoots, and for that, I found a salt and pepper wig. So for a period between say, June to September, I got lots of messages from people being like, ‘why have you straightened your hair?’ But that was just a wig.

You wore one in a Nescafe ad too.

Yeah, yeah, precisely. That was a wig.

‘It’s very rare that you experience one pure emotion’

What is the most challenging part about doing a biopic series like Made In India: A Titan Story?

It was a grueling schedule lasting many, many days and I was in a lot of the scenes. There was rarely a day where I wasn’t called for the shoot.

Learning the (Hindi) lines (was challenging)… I didn’t get the fourth, fifth and sixth episodes until quite late before we started shooting because they were still working on it and perfecting it.

Robbie (Grewal, Director), his DA (directorial assistant) and I sat for many, many sessions before the shoot started, where we went over the lines, discussed them, gave feedback, tweaked things… I would say ‘I don’t think I should say this line, I think Akash (played by Vaibhav Tatwawadi) should say this.’

So then Robbie would take all of that feedback. Luckily, we agreed on almost everything. We didn’t agree on a couple of things but that’s also good because either I would convince him or he would convince me and that’s better because, you know, two heads are better than one.

I always feel great acting is a combination of things and never just one thing because human beings don’t experience life like that.

It’s very rare that you experience one pure emotion, just that one emotion. Any moment is a combination of a variety of things. For example, all the euphoria of the series’ success at the moment is also met with ‘Oh, but when will I get another role *this* good?’

If we’re really, really looking at any moment, we will see that there are many conflicting emotions involved. So if he disagrees, and I disagree with him about something, what will ideally happen is a mixture of both of our ideas, which will probably be better than both individual ideas.

‘Naseer makes the scene such a pleasure to be in because he listens, really observes you’

You share many scenes with Naseeruddin Shah who plays J R D Tata in the series. This is also the first time you are working with him. What was that like?

It was fantastic! I had seen him in a play when I was 18 or so. It was a one man show of The Prophet by Khalil Gibran that he had done an adaptation of. I remember seeing it at the NCPA and just being blown away.

Then, of course, I watched a lot more of his movies. I really admired him as an actor, the kind of intensity, realism, suspense, drama, surprise, everything that he manages to add to his performances while always seeming believable. I think that is remarkable and a testament to his long, illustrious career.

I’m glad I got to act with him in something. I’ve known him for so many years. We have a very friendly relationship, so yeah, it was very relaxed. We would play Scrabble and hang out.

He’s such a good actor that he makes the scene such a pleasure to be in because he listens, really observes you, and sees what you’re doing.

He lets everything that you do affect him, and he gives something back in response that then can affect you, that you can then play with and dance with and incorporate into your line and then give something back.

It feels like what beautiful acting should be, in my opinion, which is a play between two people playing out the scene, right? So that it’s fun, so that it’s alive, so that it’s crackling.

Which are your favourite scenes with him?

I liked a lot of the scenes. I like the one where I’m interrupting him playing golf.

I like the one right at the end where he’s older, and struggling with his jacket a little bit. I mean, Naseer doesn’t actually struggle with his jacket, right? He’s doing it to show that he’s older now, but that gives me the cue to go and help him with the jacket.

That sets the tone for how the scene is going to unfold and really crystallises this idea of this father-son kind of relationship that they have.

So there is this very affectionate relationship that the two of them have. Luckily, in that case, Art was imitating Life. I feel that way towards him.

I even liked the scene where we’re walking after we find the land in Hosur, and he’s being a bit sterner because Xerxes’ character is like, ‘It’s gonna fly’. He grounds me.

He’s like, what is the market price of (rival watch company) GMT? How long have you taken to do this? Five years? You’re already late. You haven’t stuck to anything. How many years are you going to take to bring the market share up?

He puts everything in perspective. What a wonderful scene, right?

What I like about both the writing and the way that it eventually played out is that Xerxes allows himself to be a bit freer, a bit more petulant, a bit more sulky, a bit more arrogant, in front of his mentor but he knows when to stop.

He knows when he’s gone too far. He takes the criticism in the correct way, and doesn’t argue back. He takes it on the chin, listens to it, and goes back to being a gracious mentee.

Was there more pressure on you playing a Parsi character since you are a Parsi yourself?

No, there was less pressure on me. It’s way easier.

‘Xerxes Desai doesn’t try to take credit. Robbie is the same’

How was the experience with Director Robbie Grewal?

Robbie is very relaxed, calm and patient on set. I never saw him get annoyed. If anyone had a question, he would discuss it. If they had a different approach, he would explain why he wanted something slightly different.

He would lead them there in a gentle way that made them feel like they had agency, which is a very important thing for a director to do. Actors, any creative person needs to feel like they have agency, it’s important to them. I saw him respect that.

Everybody was imitating how the entire show was supposed to be, because in the show, Xerxes really gives agency to his team, just as JRD gives agency to Xerxes. There’s a trust that slowly builds.

Like, when Jeh has a heart attack and Xerxes is away, and then he returns, there are new designs, the watch is ready, and everything is just done. Xerxes is speechless but doesn’t respond with anything apart from, I’m so proud, these are amazing.

He doesn’t try to take credit. Robbie is the same.

The actors that he thinks need to be let be, he lets them be, actors that he thinks needs a stronger brief, he comes in and gives them the brief. He’s totally okay with me calling him up and being like, hey, I have an idea about the scene tomorrow. What if instead of this, we just… or what if we started with the end, and then circled back… he would be like, okay, okay, Jim, I’ll think about it (laughs).

The series has beautiful retro Bollywood music.

I loved it! It just transports you to that time immediately. I love that song, Hai Apna Dil Toh Awara. I got to sing along to it. I was like, wait, I can actually sing along to it? We’re actually going to use this in the show? And Robbie was like, yes, of course. I was like, how?!

What are we going to see you in next?

Well, there’s that Atlee film that I was shooting earlier. I also finished shooting for a part in Mira Nair’s next film Amri.

Photographs curated by Satish Bodas/Rediff