Jackie Shroff spoke on his son Tiger Shroff becoming a victim of online trolling for his looks and acting, soon after he made his Bollywood debut with Heropanti in 2014.
Veteran actor Jackie Shroff feels proud when people call him Tiger Shroff’s father. The fact that Tiger carved his own path and became “the youngest action star” by the time he turned 26, also makes him happy.
Jackie Shroff, in an interview with Times of India said, “We hear of nepotism in Bollywood, that star kids become actors because of their parents. That’s a bigger challenge for them. Tiger had the burden of expectations from my 220 movies on his shoulders. He had to get out of his dad’s shadow.”
Further comparing his journey with Tiger’s, Jackie added that his son faced bigger roadblocks. “His father is an actor so there will be constant comparisons. My father was an astrologer so people had no expectations from me. Of course it wasn’t easy for me either. In 80s we had Bachchan sahab, Vinod Khanna, Dharmendra so I was lucky that I was even accepted and I hit the jackpot right in my first film Hero (1983). Every generation has its own challenges.”
Tiger Shroff made his Bollywood debut in Heropanti (2014). But soon after, he became a victim of online trolling for his looks and acting. Some even compared his face with Kareena Kapoor Khan. Tiger however managed to champion all that over the years, delivering noteworthy performances in films like Baaghi, Student of the Year 2 and War.
Sharing his take on how Tiger took all those unfavourable comments by his stride right at the start of his career, Jackie said in the same interview, “About this whole macho macho comparison, he is young. He is still growing. He is a cub for God’s sake and he is getting there. Also, I am glad that he does not look like what people expect him to. Matlab Jackie ka bachcha hai toh daadhi ke saath hi pait se bahar aayega kya? (Being Jackie Shroff’s son doesn’t mean he’ll be born with a beard.) Being compared to Kareena! Ha ha so cute. And you should see his replies to those comparisons and memes. He was cool with it.”
While Jackie Shroff was last seen in Salman Khan-starrer Radhe which released on Eid this year, Tiger Shroff has Heropanti 2 in his kitty.