After recovering from a health scare and with some good projects under his belt, actor Jimmy Shergill is upbeat about the newyear ahead

In a freewheeling chat with CS, he talks about his tryst with Punjabi cinema as well as his love for Bollywood. Excerpts..

Bouncing back to health
Life is pretty hectic since a year and a half. But I have no complaints, because I had health issues before that which was a huge setback. It was a unique case where I developed a major problem in my spine. I think it was my addiction to the 12-13 cups of coffee without milk or sugar that I would consume everyday. That resulted in a major deficiency of calcium and Vitamin D3 which aggravated the pain in my lower back. Thankfully, with proper medication and physiotheraphy to strengthen the bones, I am now completely fine. Now I can concentrate on my projects with full gusto. It has taken me almost two years to recover but I am finally feeling healthier.

Regional flavour
I do a Punjabi film once in a while purely for the love of it. But, I am certainly not shifting base to Punjab or only interested in doing Punjabi films as is being made out by people. I even turned producer when a team of production people (of the Punjabi film I was working in) came to me with the idea of starting a production house so that instead of the producer, the deserving people got their due credit. I liked their reasoning and went ahead with the same team and produced four films.

In Bollywood, the audience is open to different kinds of cinema. Earlier, they were inclined to commercial cinema like violence, action, comedy, drama. But now they have accepted experimental cinema too. While the Punjabi audiences watch films with their entire family, so they prefer family oriented movies and don't experiment too much with their content.


Exciting new projects
2014 will be exciting for the myriad roles I am playing in my films. There is a film where I am playing a Marathi character. Though I am not fluent with the language, I am trying to get its nuances. I am also playing a Haryanvi guy in another film and a sardarji in another.

For the sake of friendship
There are different reasons for doing a film. Sometimes, the role is fantastic, and sometimes the people associated with it. There have been instances when my role is not lengthy, but I have done the film for a friend.

A family man
I am shy by nature, I like to live in my own shell. When pack up is announced, I want to just rush home and spend time with my wife and son Veer. Being around my family makes me feel happy and secure. I don't like to socialise unless it is a party thrown by a close friend.