Staying relevant isn’t easy for an actor, but Bollywood’s bindaas bhidu, Jackie Shroff, even after spending close to four decades in the film industry, continues to stride ahead successfully.

Ask him what the secret is, and the 66-year-old, who is currently working on a film that stars Suniel Shetty, Sunny Deol and Mithun Chakraborty, laughs: “I have no idea. I kept playing around and experimenting. Be it a police officer or a crook, or even Sai Baba in films (or taking up varied projects including) Ram Lakhan (1989), Khalnayak (1993), Mission Kashmir (2000). People kept tossing me around like a ping-pong ball. I didn’t go against the tide; I flowed with it and respected my technicians.”

The times were different earlier, he acknowledges. “The producers would come to us (actors) with either a simple love story or to play a good cop. I’d never refuse. I don’t care about my role; I look at the project in its totality. It doesn’t have to be that I sing a song or get a good line. I am part of a chair, and who sits isn’t important. If one of the legs isn’t there, you will fall,” he says, adding, “I have had the opportunity to work with some great directors, and now I am getting to work with some great youngsters.”

His biggest takeaway is that he got to learn a lot from people such as the late actor and filmmaker Dev Anand. “Dev sahab got me a role in Swami Dada (1982) and made me realise what ethics are. Someone shouted at me, but he said, ‘Naya ladka hai, seekh jaayega’. Look at that concern about protecting a young artiste. (Filmmaker) Subhash Ghai, when I worked with him in Hero (1983), guided me in my first shot. I had to drive a jeep, and he told me, ‘I had to do the same thing, but I broke the set of Aradhana (1969)’. He made himself fall down to make me feel that if you do fall down, it doesn’t matter. Those are things I learned from my seniors; I didn’t put anyone down to become big,” he smiles.