Sonam Kapoor may have played the titular role in Neerja, but Jim Sarbh, who played the antagonist Khalil, has walked away with a fair share of the kudos. Now while shooting the next scene, ‘Jim, don’t slap her’ kept ringing in my head. It was a stage slap.”. Everything was real at that moment and it added that essence to the shot. So in the next scene, I smeared Sonam’s lipstick on her face and then I started addressing the passengers.Overwhelmed by the rave reviews, Jim tells us that stepping into the industry with a negative role did not bother him, as much as the thought of getting it right on screen. I was so much in character that I got carried away and slapped her. It’s not something I have done before. When the scene was over, I was told not to slap Sonam. You get to be a person at the end of their rope, how exciting is that!” Jim says. Coming from a theatre background, facing the camera was not the easiest of tasks.

While filming one of the scenes, Jim accidentally smacked Sonam on her face with the barrel of his gun. We didn’t break the character; I was already there after 45 minutes; tired and stressed out. Recalling the incident, the actor says, “The scene where I am looking for the cockpit, I slapped Sonam Kapoor on her face. A role is a role. “I don’t really understand this negative or positive role thing. Seeing the person who got hit being so brave and going on with the scene, I told myself to suck it up and kept shooting. Just like theatre, this was my stage where 200 people were watching me while I enacted my scene with Sonam,” Jim says.Shooting such an intense film was nothing short of an emotional roller coaster. She was there to play her part and we both appreciated each other’s commitment to our respective characters. We never chit-chatted. That’s how we finished the scene.”So was there any baggage of having to prove himself, as he was acting next to Sonam, who is already a star “No, not at all,” says Jim.Jim, the grandson of Kali Pundole (the founder of the landmark Pundole Art Gallery) has his roots in theatre.

The gun’s strap was wrapped around my arm and the moment I turned back, Sonam leaned forward and the gun jumped and smacked her face. I don’t think she brought any of that baggage on the set, neither did I. I was already in the character, in front of unloading CNC Cylindrical Grinding Machine 200 people, to whom half way through the shoot I started referring as the audience. I was sh*t scared at that moment, but to my surprise, Sonam didn’t stop, but continued with the scene. That was great for both of us. He was doing really long takes, which I am used to in theatre and that made sense to me. “I was Khalil and she was Neerja and I think that’s how it worked. There was a lot of meat to Khalil’s character and it challenged me. Taking the complex character of Khalil a notch higher with his brilliant performance, debutant Jim has managed to make a mark in B’wood. “It was scary but the way Ram (Madhvani, director) shot the film was my biggest friend