He’s in a happy place as far as his career is concerned. Playing the lead character in Capital Film Work’s ‘Aaranya Kaandam’, actor Jackie Shroff is thrilled about his debut in Kollywood. With three Telugu films in his kitty, looks like this Bollywood import is set to take the Southern industry by storm.
While we asked him about ‘Aaranya Kaandam’, which took three years to make, Jackie says he had a great time shooting here and playing the role of an aging don whose powers are fading.
“It’s a city-based story directed by Thiagarajan Kumararaja. It’s my first Tamil film. I hope people here will accept me the way they did when my debut film ‘Hero’ was released in 1983.”
When quizzed about the hush-hush nude scene in the film, Jackie was unsure of revealing too much and said, “I think you should ask my director more about this.” But as we pursued the matter, he admitted that the scene comes near the climax of the film. Further to the discussion, he said that the unit made him feel at ease while the shooting the scene and that it took them two odd days to complete the shoot.
“I have never done a nude scene in my career,” he confesses and adds, “The director has made me do something I’ve never done before.”
Yasmin, the female lead in the film, plays his girlfriend while Sampath, Ravikrishna and Guru Somasundaram, a new face, make up the rest of the cast. The film is set in the concrete jungle and what happens when people turn to their primal sensibilities forms the story. However, Jackie seemed really grateful for having gotten an opportunity to work with SPB, “I respect him the way I respect Dev Anand, who gave me my first break ever in the Hindi film industry with ‘Swami Dada’.”
Also, Jackie had some good things to say about his co-stars Sampath and Yasmin. He appreciated Sampath’s style of acting and his voice, and mentioned how Yasmin resembles Smitha Patil and has done a completely de-glam role in the film.
Jackie has appeared in 170 films, has delivered 80 hits as solo hero, and is still going strong. He will soon be seen in Vishnuvardhan’s next Telugu biggie with Pawan Kalyan. In the recent Jr NTR starrer ‘Om Sakthi’, he played a villain yet another time. He is happy with the way his career is going but also laughs at how he has always been the ‘bad guy’.
Jackie seems to have a set of home-made fundas which he wants his fans to imbibe, “Lay low, take it easy, enjoy your work and do not blow your own trumpet!” His future ventures include Dutch film maker Laurens Postma’s Hindi film ‘Front Page’, where Jackie plays a war journalist.
‘Maalik Ek’ is another upcoming project in which he enacts the role of Shirdi Sai Baba. The Marathi flick ‘Hridayanath’, is also underway. He seemed extremely delighted at the fact that he has been playing lead roles in regional films and said, “What more can I ask for!”
Ask him how he retains his cool attitude and he says, “You have to be born on the streets to get that! I have had my toes and fingers bitten by rats and walked barefoot on hot tar. When you have seen all that, you will realize that you should be a normal human being first and not brood and plot against your competitors.”
Well, facing highs and lows with equanimity and breaking barriers as he goes along seemed to be this actor’s way of life!