Heropanti's surprise for Jackie Shroff's fans

When Jackie Shroff saw his son Tiger sign his debut film, Heropanti, it was a treasured moment. And producer Sajid Nadiadwala made sure the moment was filmed and preserved for keeps.

Apparently, when Tiger signed Heropanti, Jackie burst into tears.

This emotional moment is likely to be shown as part of the end-titles of the film when it releases in May.

"When Tiger came into my office with his father to sign his contract, it was like watching Jackie Dada’s son being born again," says Sajid. "It was a very emotional moment for us. I was there when Tiger  was born. Now in my office, as he formally signed his first film, it was like watching him born again. Now, all those moments are on camera."

While Tiger is a very different actor from his father, Sajid Nadiadwala has thought of an ingenious method to preserve a sense of continuity in Heropanti between father and son.

Sajid has bought the rights of that immortal flute theme from Subhash Ghai’s Hero (Jackie Shroff’s big launch into stardom). The flute theme, composed by Laxmikant-Pyarelal, was played by the legendary flutist Hari Prasad Chaurasia.

Sajid, who lost the title Hero to Sooraj Pancholi’s debut film, was determined to get the flute theme for Tiger’s

debut. He has reportedly paid a staggering Rs 1.5 crore to the music company Saregama for the rights.

"Getting the rights to that famous flute music from Subhash Ghai’s Hero was not easy," says Sajid. "I had to approach Subhashji, then I had to negotiate with Saregama. But we all felt we had to get that music for Tiger’s debut. It is like an emblem of lineage linking Tiger with Jackie Dada.”

Interestingly, director Nikhil Advani and producer Salman Khan, the makers of the official remake of Subhash Ghai’s Hero, could not get the rights for the flute music.

Therefore, in the Hero remake, we will see Sooraj Pancholi, who plays Jackie’s role, playing the mouth organ instead of the flute.

The mouth-organ music for Sooraj has been composed by Sachin-Jigar.