Actor Arifin Shuvoo talks about playing Jimmy Roy in Jazz City
Arifin Shuvoo will be seen in Soumik Sen’s Jazz City as Jimmy Roy, the layered owner of a Jazz Club. As the series premieres on OTT, we catch up with him on the role and more.
How did the project come to you?
It started with an audition which went for two long years. After I got the idea of the screenplay and the details, the ‘yes’ was inevitable.
Tell us about Jimmy
Jimmy Roy belongs to the 60s and 70s era. He’s the owner and manager of one of the most aristocratic Jazz Clubs in the 70s. He’s a people pleaser. He has layers to his personality which may come across as confusing, but will start unveiling as the episodes progress.
Since the series deal with a lot of musical nuances, did you have to take up any special preparation?
Yes. Since this is a fictional - retro story, we had to imbibe the phenomenon of the 70s, the mindset of the people, their ideas and all. Back then people did not sit with their phones in the every 2 - seconds of respite they used to get. Human interactions were much more. Everyone generously helped me with the shoot.
Was there any scene in particular that was challenging for you?
Almost every scene! What happens during a shoot is if it’s a ten page scene, we don’t shoot ten pages at a stretch. We do probably, 5 lines, 8 lines, 1 page, 2 pages and then there’s a cut. Soumik Da’s master shots were taken in a single take. This means enacting the whole 10 page scene at a go. The contents of the scene, your body language, dialogues, and your interaction with the co-actor were in the head. Anyone making a mistake in the scene amounted to re-starting it from the beginning. That was very challenging.
The series deals with the fight for Bengali language and its survival. Today is western influence taking away this identity from it?
I don’t think like this. This is my personal view. Your listening to Bob Marley does not make you a hater of Rabindra Sangeet, Nazrul Geeti, Bhatiali or others. Your reading Kafka does not mean that you are not reading Rabindranath Tagore or Sirshendu , or a Humayan Ahmed. For me, you are exploring and understanding life from different cultural aspects. I don’t think it’s taking away from the essence of the language. When I speak in Bangla, I speak fluently in the language. When I speak in a different language, if I have a grasp over it, I try to speak it fluently as well.
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