Jim Sarbh and His Insta Followers Are a Match ‘Made in Heaven’

Indian marriages are a melting pot. They’re a union of not just two people but families - or so they say. Perhaps that’s what Amazon Prime Video’s latest original Made in Heaven will try to capture.

Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti’s web series explores the lives of two wedding planners, Karan and Tara. The cast includes Sobhita Dhulipala, Arjun Mathur, Kalki Koechlin, Jim Sarbh and Neena Gupta.

The Quint caught up with Jim Sarbh and Arjun Mathur who got candid about their roles in the show. On a lighter note, we also got Jim Sarbh to talk about his Instagram page which he uses to showcase his inimitable style, how he handles the flood of pick-up lines he receives and his dreams of winning an Oscar.

There seems to be so much going on. What’s the story? What’s happening?

Ya, there’s a lot going on. There are personal journeys. There’s growth and you know… all kinds of stuff really. Basically, through Karan and Tara… it’s their personal growth that’s taking place with the backdrop of weddings. We explore a lot of society and stigma.

So you know when you guys sign up for a character, do you guys ever think twice about playing a gay role or a bisexual?

Jim - I think an actor’s job is to act and not judge its character and if you come with judgement you are revealing, in fact, the deep rooted problems society has.

Arjun - This is the third homosexual character that I have played and I think that we all have gay friends and we say we support them but I think as long as you are drawing the line in your own mind about a gay part or straight part, I don’t think that’s real support.

Do you think Bollywood or Indian cinema or any kind of content that we make in India has a weird depiction?

Arjun - Stereotypes have existed within our cinema since like the ’70s and ’80s and I think it’s about time that we started taking a real look at these characters.

Jim - I don’t watch that much Bollywood to be honest. The belief all I can control is the roles offered to me and the projects that I choose to be a part of. And I feel that the moment I read the script, oh man, I would have taken his role anytime. If they would have offered it to me... Oh my God! I would have killed him for it. So I want to play great roles.He’s totally going for your character. Oh yeah, for sure. To me, it’s the most interesting male role and I want the most interesting male role whatever sexual orientation. Who gives a… heck?

Do you guys ever think that a web series gives you more like depth to build a character or do films also do it in the right amount?

Arjun - This is not a web series, it’s an Amazon Prime Original series. And yeah definitely, as opposed to a one-and-a-half-hour, two-hour film, you have a character that’s properly etched out by these amazing writers. You know, charting his graph from episode one to nine and like yeah it’s amazing for an actor and there’s a lot there to sink your teeth into.

Jim - I think you have more material to work with and we love material to work with that’s why we do it. I do feel that depending on the quality and the time the actor has to prepareI believe that all your characters should be as well etched in your mind, whether it’s a short film, feature film or an Amazon Original series.

Made in Heaven premieres on Amazon Prime Video on 8 March.

Cameraperson: Sanjoy Deb
Video Editor: Veeru Krishnan Mohan