'I stood in the line for potty. So there was no extraordinary feeling that I had become a hero.'
Jackie Shroff became an overnight star after playing the lead in Subhash Ghai's Hero, and he acknowledges his mentor, saying, "Subhash Ghai Made Me."
They went on to make more films like Karma, Ram Lakhan, Khal Nayak and Yaadein.
Jackie, who turned 68 on February 1, looks back at his career and his unique bond with Ghai.
"He was the gentleman who gave kanyadaan at my marriage. He played the part of Ayesha's father and performed the rites of our marriage," Jackie tells Dinesh Raheja.
Hero made you a major star. Did success change you at that young age?
I don't think success changed me.
I was the same, doing what I used to do before I got into films. I continued staying in my chawl for three-four years.
I stood in the line for potty. So there was no extraordinary feeling that I had become a hero.
For me, it felt like I was a chawl boy; I remain a chawl boy till today.
In the early days, did Subhash guide you on which films to sign?
He would tell me: 'You should sign Yash Choprasaab's film'; 'You should work with the big banners', and 'You shouldn't accept any role which will undermine your capabilities.'
Did Ghai advise you on whether it was the right time for a young hero like you then to marry your girlfriend, Ayesha Dutt?
He was the gentleman who gave kanyadaan at my marriage. He played the part of Ayesha's father and performed the rites of our marriage.
Did you feel a slight twinge of envy when Subhash worked with others like Anil Kapoor?
You need to be such a petty-hearted guy to do these things.
You think I am? You think I would sit and brood and feel bad about it? Not at all.
What I got was more than enough, couldn't have asked for more.
You were considered an action hero then but you got a lot of appreciation for your performance in Ghai's Ram Lakhan (1989). Any scene which you particularly liked?
The scene I thought which was particularly beautiful was the one when my brother comes to take the mandir of the house, and we have a little conflict there.
In the same year, 1989, you won the Filmfare Best Actor award for Vidhu Vinod Chopra's Parinda. What was the reaction of Ghai and other people around you?
I had no idea what hit me. I had my newborn child in my hands, and I wasn't expecting any award.
It just happened to me.
Everybody was really happy for me. But it hasn't registered till now that I have received the Best Actor award in Parinda.
When you did Khal Nayak with Sanjay Dutt, did you ever discuss with him about how he was originally supposed to do Hero but you ended up doing the film?
No, never. I didn't speak about it. It seems it was to be done with many other actors. I don't know how I got it.
In Ram Lakhan and Khal Nayak, Subhash repeatedly cast you as the principled Good Guy while another hero played the grey role. What is the reaction when you play the main villain today in 2024's Singham Again and Baby John?
Well, I started with negative roles. In Swami Dada (1982), I was the henchmen to Shakti Kapoorsaab. In Hero also, in the first half, I'm not a good guy.
I kidnap the police commissioner's daughter and take her to the jungle so that my boss can be released from jail in exchange for her.
I mean, you kidnap the commissioner's daughter, you're not a hero. Yes, he changes because of love, that's a different story later. But the character was initially a bad guy.
Almost two decades after Hero, Ghai was the first to cast you in a central albeit older role in Yaadein (2001) as Kareena Kapoor's father. Did you have any hesitation about accepting the role?
It was just what he said. I did it and I love the role.
I think it was the most beautiful role of a father with three daughters, and how he gets them married, how it breaks your heart, but you're supposed to feel happy also. I think it was a lovely emotion.
Was it an emotional experience to play a father?
I mean, I've not seen my daughter get married, can't even think about it, but in the film, I think I did a good job of getting the emotion right.
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