A five-year-old boy from Aberdeen has a starring role in a new Bollywood film.
Jacob Smith was just three when he caught the eye of a Bollywood casting director while travelling the world with his family.
It turns out he was just what they were looking for to play the role of Raj in a new film, Mimi, which is now out on Netflix.
His mum Julie Smith said that working on the film was a “crazy” once in a lifetime opportunity that unexpectedly cropped up during their worldwide adventure.
Mrs Smith, husband Kris and children Jacob and Erihn, set off to travel the world in June 2019.
She said: “By December 2019, we had covered 19 countries since leaving Aberdeen in the June and decided to settle in Goa, India for a while to put the children into school.
“One afternoon we were picking up Jacob and a Bollywood casting director had been visiting, they told us they loved his look and asked if he would audition for a film.
“At this point we just giggled a bit and thought it was crazy, we didn’t take it too seriously to be honest, but we had an informal chat with them and they got Jacob to say a few lines in English.
“Then a few weeks later they got back in touch and said ‘we love him and he’s definitely our little Raj, we would love if you could move to Mumbai’ – and then dropped in that the film wouldn’t be in English”.
‘It blew us away’
The Smith family changed all the plans for their trip so they could relocate to Mumbai for the film, spending weeks helping Jacob through acting lessons and learning Hindi.
“We had long discussions about whether to take it on or not, we definitely didn’t take it lightly,” Mrs Smith, from Hazlehead, said.
“We left our jobs in Aberdeen to go on an adventure as a family and we thought this was a once in a lifetime opportunity, so why don’t we say yes and see how it goes.
“Once it was made, it was definitely the right decision.”
“We spent a long time making sure the contract was tight and that Jacob was the number one priority, because he is just a wee boy, not an actor. The cast and the crew were amazing and at no point was he uncomfortable.
“He found it all fun and games and was spoilt rotten on set, he was the star of the show because he was only three and a bundle of joy.
“We were surprised at what he managed to do as he has the attention span of a gnat. Watching the director get him to perform was phenomenal, it blew us away.”
Although his parents were overjoyed by his performance and the “positive experience” they had on set, they say they won’t be pushing him into more acting roles.
“Who knows with Jacob, he’s got something but we’re not going to push him into anything. You never know what will come, last week he wanted to be a policeman.”
A big secret
The now five-year-old’s role in the film had to be kept a secret which was made easier for the family as they spent lockdown in Nepal thousands of miles away from friends and family.
Mrs Smith continued: “It was easy to keep the secret when were in the mountains as the children weren’t playing with cousins or their pals, but once we got home to Aberdeen it was really hard.”
Following the cancellation of a cinema release due to Covid, the film Mimi was released on Netflix on Monday.
“The movie was supposed to come out on the 30th but it was brought forward to Monday just past, we were on a live chat with the team and they dropped the bomb that it was out.
“They did a count down, we ran to the TV and found it already streaming. We dropped everything and sat down and watched it. We are biased obviously, but we were completely blown away.
“We’re planning a small premiere at home so we can watch with family at some point which will be lovely.”
‘It’s all very surreal’
It has been an eventful couple of years for Jacob, who also became the youngest person ever to walk to Everest base camp last year.
His mum added: “Before he’s five he has an unofficial world record and has starred in a Bollywood film. We keep laughing about it, it’s still all very surreal.
“We’re so proud of both of our children. His big sister Erihn is a big inspiration to him, she gives him a lot of confidence and has been a great support.”
Depending on how the world looks, the Smith family are hoping to hit the road again before the end of the year – but don’t have plans for any more film roles at the moment.