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Still a Hero

Jackie Shroff is back in a comedy film. CHITRA SWAMINATHAN met the actor during his visit to the city

PHOTO: R. SHIVAJI RAO

STYLE AND SIMPLICITY Jackie Shroff

About 20 years ago, when good-looking men were not labelled metro or retrosexuals, and long before the advent of the Salmans and the Shah Rukhs, Jackie Shroff's handsome face and well-toned body had the marquee buzzing. The model-actor's (he did a few ad campaigns) casual slouch, stylish drawl and ramp-walker gait sent pulses racing and his prospects soaring in Bollywood. The "Hero" (the superhit film that made him a star overnight) is now back, after a spate of flops and a bad patch, with "Mera Dil Leke Dekkho" and "Bhootuncle".

What's more? The stylish star is turning a designer too. He will soon come up with the Jackie line of clothing and accessories for men. "I am creating it especially for the fashion-conscious common man. So, affordability will be its USP."

On "Mera Dil... ," produced by Shatrughan Sinha's wife, Jackie says, "I was waiting for a comedy film to happen." And what about "Bhootuncle"? "I love doing something for children. Earlier, I did `King Uncle'. And now I play a friendly bhoot," he laughs aloud, sitting in his vanity van parked in a Chennai studio, where he was recently shooting for a Priyadarshan film.

He is busy chatting on the Internet with his teenage son. "The laptop is my constant travel companion these days. I am plugged in when away from home, most often to be in touch with my kids (he also has a daughter Krishna)," says the doting dad. It was even said that he cut down on his film assignments to spend more time with the kids. "I don't want to be a famous but absentee father."Despite his legion of female fans, Jackie has also remained far from link-ups. "Nobody can take Ayesha's place," says Jackie fondly of his childhood sweetheart turned wife. "She is my sounding board and support."

From a one-room tenement to a posh penthouse, from doing sundry jobs to seeking fame and riches, Jackie is schooled in life's hard knocks. "Criticism, crass films, adulation... I don't let anything go to my head," says the ageing cool dude. But surely it must be hurtful to see the once chock-a-block diary now with several blank sheets? "Not at all," he parries. "I have always remained unaffected by the whimsical ways of the box-office. I never wanted my life to centre around the Friday hits and misses," he says in a worldly-wise manner. "What matters most is that I have achieved it all with dignity and integrity."

From "Hero" to `Devdas", Jackie has always stood out for the simplicity of his performances. "If you get thinking directors the honesty in your performance is bound to come through. Anyway, acting in films is no big deal. Even the poorest actor can manage to survive with cuts and retakes. To act on stage is more challenging. I remember during the making of "Hero", Subhashji gave me two pages of dialogue. I told him I wouldn't be able to handle it. And he coolly said `Don't you worry, I will record a line a day'. Can it get simpler," asks the candid Jackie.

Dismissing the numbers game in the film industry as a farce, he says, Rajnikanth is the only true blue superstar in India. None of the Hindi actors can ever dream of getting a price that he gets. He can keep a film going for months on end. What about his ambitious "Boom" (he produced and acted in it) that bombed at the box-office? "Hota hai. Par rone ka nahin," he says in his trademark Mumbaiya Hindi. "However much you try you cannot move away from the beaten track in Bollywood. "We keep churning out the same stories over and over again. So, I don't fret about doing something different."

What keeps him going in the big bad world of cinema. "Hope. Jeena isi ka naam hai!"

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