Who doesn’t love Jackie Chan? We, Indians, especially do. Right from his start in Hong Kong filmdom in the age of VCRs and VHS tapes, Indian fans have been with him all the way through to his Hollywood walk of fame. And now, after five decades and an illustrious career of over 200 films, Jackie, who kept us on the edge of our seats with a mixture of impossible stunts and a bag of laughs, has won an honorary Oscar. A great time to look back on the life and career of this absolute entertainer.
Jackie Chan was born Chan Kong-Sang, literally 'Born in Hong Kong’ on April 7, 1954. But the faith that is popularly known as cinema cemented his fame with his moniker, Jackie, which he acquired during a lull in his early film career when he worked as a construction worker in Australia where his parents had moved when he was seven. His co-worker Jack had named him Little Jack (which soon became Jackie) because he could not pronounce his Chinese name.
Jackie Chan came from a humble background, but it is said that Chan’s parents had as colourful lives as their son’s movies before they became ‘domesticated’, so to speak, with his father Charles Chan settling down as a cook and his mother Lily (Lee-Lee), a housekeeper, at the French embassy in Hong Kong. His father is said to have been a spy for the Chinese nationalist government before World War II and later a member of crime syndicates of Shanghai’s underworld. His mother, who was a performing artiste, apparently also moonlighted as a small-time opium dealer, whom his dad arrested as part of his work. Love blossomed between the spy and his ‘captive’ and they got married before long. The family moved to Hong Kong in 1949 after the Communist take-over of mainland China, as Charles Chan had been a spy for the earlier government.
As a child, Jackie would be woken up by his father early in the morning to practice Kung Fu. His father believed that learning Kung Fu would build Jackie's character and teach him patience, strength and courage. Chan joined a boarding school when he was seven when his parents moved to Australia. At the school, he learnt martial arts and Chinese Opera along with Sammo Hung, who too went on to become an actor and martial arts star in his own right.
With his background, Jackie Chan landed small roles in films even as a child and went on to find steady work in the Hong Kong film industry. Did you know that he appeared as an extra in that legendary of martial arts films starring the master Bruce Lee? Yes, Jackie Chan played a role — perhaps too small to be credited with — in the blockbuster Enter the Dragon.
Although his career did not take off initially, Chan later went to on to have great successes like ‘Drunken Master’ and ‘Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow’.
Jackie Chan the actor, later turned director and even singer, impressed both the young and old with his acrobatic and innovative fighting style. A spontaneous stunt director, he would improvise on the go, even using a tooth pick as a weapon, keeping them awed. He became known for performing death-defying stunts even as he had fans rolling on the floor with laughter.
But it took a while for his fame to travel from the East to the West. Once he made a mark, though there was no turning back. Starting from 'Rumble in the Bronx' , he had a string of hits over the years with ‘Who am I’, 'Rush Hour’, 'Shanghai Noon’, 'The Tuxedo,' 'The Medallion’, and ‘Around the world in 80 days. Chan’s winning formula of humour and martial arts had paved the way to the hearts of audiences from across the globe.
So it was only a matter of time before he reached out to his already huge fan base in India. He targeted the Indian market with his 2005 release ‘The Myth’ featuring Indian actress Mallika Sherawat and the Kerala-based martial art 'Kalaripayattu'.
India can expect more such offerings, with Chan set to visit Jaipur next year to shoot his upcoming Indo-Chinese film 'Kung Fu Yoga,' which will also star Bollywood actors, including Sonu Sood and Amyra Dastur. While a part of the movie is set to be shot at Jaipur, the rest will be completed in Beijing. With the promise of his action-packed adventure, ‘Kung Fu Yoga’ is set to release in October 2017.