Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; April 14, 2017)

"Paps don’t bother me anymore,” declares Tiger Shroff as we start off our conversation with his recent pictures with rumoured ladylove Disha Patani outside a Bandra eatery last weekend. He may not have admitted to being in a ‘relationship’ with the actress just yet, but Tiger knows every industry member has to, eventually, come to terms with their personal life being written about. “It is part and parcel of showbiz. On the contrary, it’s nice. I am getting some recognition ( laughs). I meet friends for lunch and coffee. That’s that,” he says, avoiding discussion on Disha.

The chat, on the sidelines of Sony Yay launch, inevitably steers towards Ram Gopal Varma calling him ‘transgender’. “We are living in a chauvinistic world. But I am glad there is more awareness now. No one can call people names and get away with it anymore. As for the controversy, I don’t want to comment on any senior with whom my father shares a close professional bond. I don’t want to give unnecessary publicity to the people seeking it.” He, however, asserts he’s prepared to deal with the flip side of stardom since he chose to be “in the limelight”. The actor is on the verge of wrapping up Munna Michael and dive into the shoot of Student Of The Year (SOTY) 2 and Baaghi 2. “We will have an elaborate stint in Kashmir for SOTY 2, though we don’t know the dates yet. Munna Michael is almost done except a dance face-off scene with Nawaz (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) bhai and the finale song. I will also start preparing for Baaghi 2 in China.”

He admits his films are designed to make him look “like a hero”. “The typical formula works for me. The skills of action and dance fascinate kids. [But] At this point, I am not a superstar. I want to be one desperately, but am nowhere close to getting there. I have idols whose shoes are hard to fill and goals that will take years to achieve.”