The actor is on a mission to prove that men of science are not ‘weird or boring’ – especially not nuclear scientist Homi Bhabha – in the new series, “Rocket Boys”.
Some of us are not just limited to consuming art; We have to classify them. An expressionist painting, a jazz song, a rom-com film… We often, of course, extend the categorization binding to artists. We call someone a comedy actor or a romantic actor – not just an actor. but this unintentionally pins Them. Maybe this is the reason why Jim Sarbh gets irritated when I ask him if he is an OTT actor.
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Sarbh’s six on-screen projects – three films and three series – were straight for OTT release since 2018. However, this does not limit him to the streaming space. And, he doesn’t like to be confined.
Since his on-screen debut, his roles have included a war general (Padmavati), a drug peddler (Sanju), a business brat (made in heaven), and an accounting teacher (PhotoApart from films and series, 34-year-old Sarbh also works in plays and commercials. But for them there is no demarcation between movies, series, plays and commercials. “I think they all inform each other. It’s about applying a similar thought process from one thing to another,” he explains. The Hindu Weekend,
This unified vision is also a feature he saw in the protagonist of his new series, rocket boys, an eight-episode period drama that tells the story of two giant figures of modern Indian science, Homi Bhabha and Vikram Sarabhai. Sarbh, who plays Bhabha, says, “One of the reasons I liked both the characters is that they didn’t see things as separate from each other. They did not think of art and science and politics separately. [To them] Everything was part of the same mechanism.”
Channeling Bhabha
Sarbh is, in some ways, similar to a nuclear physicist. For one, the two share a Parsi heritage. ,[Bhabha] He is one of the two Parsis who have made a huge contribution to the world. The other was Freddie Mercury, who had already played Rami Malek. So, I am glad that I got a chance to play the role of Homi Bhabha,” he smiles.
But being only Parsi was not the reason for the makers of the film rocket boys Sarbh was his first choice. Director Abhay Pannu says, “Jim has a personality similar to that of Dr. Homi Bhabha. “Bhabha was considered to be gentle, charismatic, mischievous and mysterious in some ways. He also had a wicked sense of humour. If you’ve met Jim, you know that he too has a sharp sense of humor and is very intelligent.
According to Pannu, Sarbh can play a scene in 20 different ways – and the actor admits to doing multiple takes for some scenes. Says Sarbh, “If you are dealing with such an extraordinary character who thinks differently from everyone else, I think what may come naturally to you, may not be the right way to play it. Is.” “What could be right, after doing it 20 times, we know was right the 16th time.”
When Wisdom Meets Creativity
The trailer of the series, which has garnered over 25 million views on YouTube, informs us that Sarabhai and Bhabha weren’t just men of science. There is romance, humour, playfulness, patriotism, passion and betrayal in their lives.
“I hope the show manages to dispel the stereotype of scientists being stereotyped or boring or stuck in their heads,” says Sarbh. “Because I believe that what made these people great was not their intellectual ability; it was also their creativity and their ability to solve problems that other people couldn’t even imagine. And that’s purely It is not an intellectual process, it is also an emotional process.”
This is the first time the actor has played a man he admires in real life. And the more he came to know about Bhabha, the more his admiration grew. “Just for his scientific achievements, Homi Bhabha deserved a biopic. Now, add the fact that he wrote books on culture, could play the violin, and knew how to paint. He was someone who had diverse interests and took the time and effort to explore them. He was a Renaissance man in every sense of the word. ,
This faith made Sarbh and others also rocket boys The team worked hard in the way the lives of Bhabha and Sarabhai (played by Ishwak Singh) were portrayed. “How will Homi Bhabha communicate this information? How will Vikram Sarabhai counter her? Is Vikram Sarabhai the only person in the room who is thinking as far away as him?’ We constantly asked such questions to make the show as character-driven as possible. We used to think of Homi Bhabha as a puzzle. And, sometimes, it would take us days to solve that puzzle.”
connection and coincidence
Pannu shared that a glimpse of the puzzle that surrounds Bhabha’s life can be found in Sarbh’s life as well. Take, for example, his decision to stay in the ashram at the age of 20. After college and a year-long theater in Atlanta, he went to the Bihar School of Yoga in Munger for five months, where he lived without his phone or internet – an experience he says was more of a liberating one.
“I think I am very good at finding a way to be happy in most situations,” says Sarabh, who took the pandemic-imposed lockdown in his stride. He didn’t force himself to be productive; He caught up with old friends and forged new personal relationships, including his pet cat Mimi, a lockdown rescue (he found the kitten on his way back from a grocery run on the first day of the pandemic).
spread over many worlds
- There is no escape sirb. If you’re not a movie watcher, chances are you caught him in commercials. And almost no one walks through the mill. In an advertisement for The Sold Store, he is seen promoting his brand at gunpoint. In a Kia ad – which plays on the word ‘extravagance’ – he is a charming man in a smoking jacket who carefully selects a 370-year-old foreign wine to wash his mouth. He has also kept his foot firmly on the stage. Sarbh speaks passionately about Simon Stephens’ solo performance sea wall in 2020. “We recorded the performance in a four-camera setup, and I did it four times in a row. So what you’re seeing is a perfect performance. We didn’t start-stop-start because we wanted to stay in form,” he says. The play will be re-aired next month on in.bookmyshow.com.
“I don’t think anything lasts. Everything is gone. So whatever happens, as long as it is happening, I can feel it.” Where does this spiritual knowledge come from? The answer is even more mysterious. “I don’t think anything can unlock things in you that aren’t already there. I think everything that is already within you is leading you to that experience.”
Talking about which, interestingly, Sarbh shares an intimate relationship with his rocket boys hero. In 2012, he liked a desk he had seen at an auction house run by his uncle. Her father made a successful bid and gifted it to her. Later he came to know that the desk belonged to Jamshed Bhabha. A decade later, he was portraying Jamshed’s brother, Homi, on screen.
luck? Or mere coincidence?
“I don’t know what it is. You wanna call it a space magnet?” He laughs. “But, then, I had a Freddie Mercury biography, and his biopic didn’t come to me! We make such connections between things and I think it’s totally okay to enjoy the magic of it.”
Rocket Boys to stream on Sony LIV from February 4
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