Let me see how this is. I am very fastidious about my jhalmuri,” Vidyut Jammwal told The Telegraph as he dug into a bowl of the much-loved Calcutta street food. We were sitting in Roots, the chill pad at Chowringhee, where Vidyut, Bollywood’s action man, had made a pitstop to promote his new film IB71, which releases in cinemas today.

Earlier in the day, Vidyut had, of course, visited Kalighat, accompanied by The Telegraph, where he not only had a “soul-satisfying darshan” but also interacted at close quarters with hundreds of fans. In between bites at Roots, we chatted about IB71 — an espionage thriller which is billed as an “untold story based on true events”, where IB agent Dev, played by Vidyut, is on a top-secret mission to save the nation from an attack by Pakistan, by carrying out a near-impossible plan of blocking air space, in order to avert the attack — and what made the actor decide to turn producer with this film.

What was your first reaction when you heard the story of the film?

I started looking for stories as a producer and this was the first one that came to me. It came to me as a seed of a story, about this seemingly impossible mission carried out by India’s intelligence agencies called ‘Ganga’. We all have heard about this mission, but we don’t really know what it was all about. When I started cogitating on it that night, I thought that we really needed a director who would have to believe in this story more than me or anybody else because he needed to be the ‘crazy one’.

I went through all the people I wanted to work with and Sankalp (Reddy) was one of the few people whose name really blew up. I had watched The Ghazi Attack (a 2017 film, directed by Sankalp) one evening at home and I realised that he’s brilliant. I learnt that he lives in Hyderabad and apparently, he is arrogant. And I am also considered arrogant, so that was a similarity (smiles). When I met him, I realised that he’s one of the nicest people I have ever met... ‘humble’ is an understatement and he’s brilliance personified. When I told him about the story, he jumped at it.

We then started meeting people, especially those in the secret service and IB (Intelligence Bureau). It wasn’t easy to find many details, apart from a few newspaper articles. I have always felt that to know the crux of a story, you have to go to the other side. And we started reading a lot of things about this mission that had been written over there (in Pakistan). It gave us a great perspective. No one has really spoken about it even after it was de-classified. India did cross the border and do a lot of things which were not supposed to be done, but they were necessary for the country. It’s been 50 years and I thought it was time to tell this story. Why not speak about something that made the whole world look up to India?

The Russia-Ukraine war has been going on for more than a year and there is still no solution. This mission in 1971 ended in just 13 days... in 13 days, we finished a war, divided Pakistan into two (East Pakistan became Bangladesh) without too many casualties. We had about 95,000 people surrendering to the Indian Army in East Pakistan. What a great mission!

What were the biggest challenges of getting this film off the ground?

Getting the information wasn’t easy, for sure. But once we had like-minded people joining the project, things became relatively easier. Everyone was so passionate about what they were doing, that this turned out to be a different movie set altogether.

I have been an actor for a while and I was watching producers working and I really thought a few changes could be made. On most movie sets, there is so much hierarchy and it was important for me to break that. On this set, which was a huge production involving so many people, we made the dining hall open to everybody... anyone could sit with anyone. We always ensured that the best food was made available to everyone. These were a few changes that were in my hands.

I hired actors who haven’t got the recognition that they deserve. I used to watch them in a project or two and then wonder why I hadn’t seen them again. While we were casting, we said: ‘All NSDians (from the National School of Drama) come and give an audition.’ The amount of brilliance we witnessed in these auditions was very high. We all wanted to make something that hadn’t been seen before. Making this film was a great experience. As a first production, there was no stress, there was only happiness.

Does being a bonafide ‘outsider’ in the industry push you more to give the deserving a chance?

To be honest, I am not giving anyone a chance. When people bet on me, they probably saw something in me that they hadn’t seen in anyone else. I am just doing the same thing. To say that I am giving a chance to anyone would be a little arrogant. I see brilliance in people, I request them to work with me... if they say ‘yes’, it’s a home run.

When your film Khuda Haafiz was announced for release on a streaming platform in the middle of the first Covid wave, along with films starring Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn and Abhishek Bachchan, all these stars were made part of the grand launch, but you weren’t. You had then put out a tweet saying, ‘The cycle continues,’ calling out the industry for favouritism. Have things changed for you since?

To see the change you have to be the change. I am being the change. And it’s not difficult at all. I don’t like people getting into disputations or arguments or playing the blame game.

In all my years of working, I have seen the films that do well are the ones where I have had fun on set, where everyone is at peace. I tried to do that on the set of my first production. The tweet you are talking about was an impulsive decision on my part....

But it was a necessary one....

Most people don’t see it like that. I am driven by my impulses. While shooting Bullett Raja (2013), I hit a stuntman and he fell off a cliff. Without a second thought, I jumped and caught him and saved his life. Everyone was so appreciative of what I did. Tigmanshu (Dhulia, the film’s director) almost smooched me and said: ‘I am proud of you! No other actor would have done it’ (laughs).

In retrospect now, if I had the sensibility and the awareness, I am not sure I would have jumped. But that natural instinct of being protective is ingrained within me. Everything is instinctive.

Vidyut interacts with some of his Calcutta fans aka ‘Jammwalions’

One would expect you to jump off that cliff, come what may. Does the pressure that comes with the image weigh heavy on you?

Whatever I do, comes naturally to me. When I am being nice to people, it doesn’t arise out of any pretentiousness. I love to be nice to people because most of them are nice to me.

Are you thought of as arrogant because you are reserved?

When people call you to a party once, twice, thrice and you can’t go... then they start thinking of you as arrogant. But that is not the truth... maybe I have been busy doing something else which is more important. Maybe I have wanted to spend time with somebody else. I don’t think much about it.

Your fan base of ‘Jamwallions’ is huge and very loyal and dedicated. What is your responsibility towards them and do they, if at all, have a responsibility towards this fandom?

There are no responsibilities. They can be who they want to be, and hence they are ‘Jammwalions’. I recently travelled to a city where 70 of them came to meet me. And when I got on to the stage, there was no screaming, they were all very well behaved. And I was like: ‘This is amazing.’

They are different people... they are not like other fans. I know most of them personally. They have dreams which no one else in their families dares to have, and that’s what makes them ‘Jamwallions’. This community helps each other get jobs, they are all very talented. Some of them are aspiring journalists who write so well. I have hired some of them to work for me.