Tiger Shroff admits that he would like to keep the Baaghi franchise, which is in its third instalment, going till his legs don’t give up on him; reveals that he is ready to flag off the Heropanti sequel, too
Roshmila Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; February 28, 2020)

In your upcoming film, Baaghi 3, we see you performing almost superhuman feats. Tell us something you’ve done off camera which in your mind is heroic?
I guess buying a house for my parents. They’ve given me the best childhood and this is my small way of giving something back. My mother (Ayesha Shroff) always wanted a house in her name, so I bought this for her... Dad (Jackie Shroff) too. My dreams are her dreams, and I am focused on my work, being successful in my career and sustaining it. She is my motivation, my inspiration. I push myself so hard to make her happy, proud and secure.

Any other dreams?
So many… My dad likes to farm, he likes land and nature. I’d like to buy him something along those lines someday. He also enjoys cars. At the peak of his superstardom, he would collect them. Of course, he would also tell us, “Never do this, I made a big mistake.” He works so hard, I want to get him things he loves.

Growing up, is there something your dad brought home especially for you that remains precious?
I never asked my parents for anything, I wasn’t a materialistic child, but whenever I didn’t want to go to school, I’d wake up early, cuddle up against dad and when mom tried to pull me out of bed, I’d hold him tighter. He would stand up for me, cajole mom to let me stay at home, saying, “Chhod na, rehne de bachche ko, nahin jaana hai usko.” Thanks to him, I got away with a lot of things. Whenever I got into trouble, I’d run to him. He’d always save me. He was my hero, he still is.

What are your earliest memories of your dad’s film, Hero?
The bike race, for some reason, and his introduction scene, which I thought was very cool, almost heroic! And yes, the songs too, particularly “Pyaar Karne Wale Kabhi Darte Nahin” which has stayed with me. I started watching Hero when I was around four years old. I’m still watching it.

And what was your dad’s first reaction to your first film, Heropanti?
He doesn’t react much, and expresses himself in a few words. “Chal ho gaya, exam pass, bindaas!”

You’ve grown in stature since your first film, become a bigger star, but your lifestyle, passion and professionalism hasn’t changed...
I’m so grateful people are accepting me and my work, year after year. My routine and lifestyle are co-related to whatever little I’ve achieved in my career so far. Why change what’s working for me?

But there must be something you would have liked to do had you not been such a disciplined actor...
I’m a foodie and wish I could binge on sweets every day, but unfortunately, only Sunday is a cheat day when I can eat everything, from pani puri and pizza to vada pav and ice-cream. Sab kuch mix match kar leta hoon.

Your dad was the hero of his generation, you are one too. Have things changed much?
In dad’s time, they were a lot more carefree, now there is increased responsibility to be a correct role model if you reach a position when kids aspire to be like you. It’s important to guide them—I won’t say the right way because who am I to judge what’s right or wrong—but in a way that helps them.

How often do you set goals for yourself?
Well, the long-term goals are permanent…

And they are?
To reach the standard of my idols, Michael Jackson and Bruce Lee, hone my craft, do things in a larger-than-life way and touch as many lives as possible. Every month, I set short-term goals, too, like lose or gain two-five kg, do some community service, learn an action skill or a dance move. I’d love to do a Broadway musical someday, a role which allows me to sing and dance. (Smiles) I sing very well in the shower.

Among your long-term goals, is there a plan to produce a film one day?
Sure, but it’d depend on the success of Baaghi 3.

Will the franchise go on and on?
Again, that would depend on how Part 3 fares. I’d like to play Ronnie till my legs don’t give up on me. All the action takes its toll, but as long as I have my youth and physicality, I’d like to be a baaghi.

You are taking on a country in Baaghi 3. What next? The universe?
(Laughs) There are a lot of memes going around that it will be Baaghi 4 vs Aliens and Baaghi 5 vs the Universe. You never know…

Your last film, with Hrithik Roshan, was the top grosser of 2019. How do you react to such success?
Honestly, the business didn’t matter. For me, War was my time with my hero, Hrithik Roshan. I got to spend time with a man I have always looked up to and modeled myself on... Going to the gym with him, watching him train, perform his scenes, give me feedback on mine, tell me how to say a particular line, pat me after a shot, all that will stay with me all my life. He’s been my hero since I saw Krrish, when I was 12 or 13. Every kid of my generation was a Krrish fan, and to this day, watching him transform on screen, I am convinced he is a real-life superhero.

Every guy enjoys having a gorgeous woman on his arm and you have one of the most coveted in the country, Disha Patani. What’s the equation like between you two?
We have a lot in common and that’s why we get along well. I have very few friends in the industry. There’s Danny uncle’s (Denzongpa) son Rinzing, who is about to be launched soon, and Ranjit sir’s son Jeeva. They are my childhood friends. Disha and I met during Baaghi and since we have similar interests and can laugh over silly things, we hang out together. She is very easy-going, no tantrums. (Smiles) We go out for lunch every now and then and get clicked together.

You go out with a guy and he’s a friend while a girl becomes a good friend…
(Clicking his fingers) Yeah, that’s the mentality here. It’s not a problem, really.

Is romance on screen more difficult than action?
Nothing’s more difficult than action. It doesn’t hurt to be romantic, action hurts.

When is Siddharth Anand’s Rambo remake happening?
Hopefully, by the end of the year. I’m also doing the sequel to my first film, Heropanti, with my mentor Sajid sir (Nadiadwala, producer) and Baaghi 2 and 3 director Ahmed sir (Khan), and that’s about it.

How is it that after a huge hit last year, you haven’t signed half a dozen films?
I’m in no hurry. A film takes a lot out of me so I enjoy my downtime. I’m not competing with anybody. I need to pace myself and last as long as I can. My race is with myself.

Tiger Shroff on the genesis of his screen alter egos, feeling like an outsider on the sets of the SOTY sequel and why he would like to be paired opposite Madhuri Dixit
Nishi Tiwari (MUMBAI MIRROR; May 4, 2019)

Tiger Shroff doesn’t talk much. Questions pertaining to the status of upcoming projects, him entering a franchise mid-way, and his father Jackie Shroff’s second innings at the movies are evaded with a vague “Sorry, I can’t talk about this right now”, “It’s always fun with a film like Student Of The Year”, and “I’ve always been proud of him.”

When he does open up, all bets are off, especially while revisiting his childhood and a dream that he gets to live out as an adult. It began when Tiger was four. While flipping through channels with his father one day, a chance encounter with Bruce Lee’s Enter The Dragon became his own rite of passage. “I was like, ‘Man, I want to be like him,’ After that, my parents enrolled me in a karate class and the rest is history,” he says, recounting his initiation into Mixed Martial Arts.

While it would go on to facilitate a successful career as an action star for the 29-year-old actor, Tiger reveals that it was the idea of a hero that pulled him in. “I always aspired to do heroic things, be it superheroes or larger-than-life characters like Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan. I have always wanted to be the stereotypical hero… Stand on top of a building or a mountain, face a helicopter or an army of baddies. These visuals keep flashing in my head. For example, if a person or a country is in danger, I want to be their last hope. That’s the kind of a vibe I look at and that’s what motivates me and really floats my boat,” he states in a matter-of-fact manner.

While he has successfully infused this concept into his screen alter egos who are outspoken and characteristically swoop in to save the day, Tiger has often described himself as a shy guy who leads a disciplined life. Ask him if the lines between the real and the reel ever blur, and he considers the question for a moment. “I try to live as clean and as good a life as possible, and I try to help as many people as I can along the way… At least as much as is within my power, so yeah, you can say that (it happens),” he says.

The actor who, along with debutantes Ananya Panday and Tara Sutaria, has taken over from Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan and Sidharth Malhotra in Student Of The Year 2, asserts that his priorities in life have been crystal clear ever since he was a student in school. “I was only focused on sports and didn’t pay much attention to studies. I used to go to school only to play sports. Ever since I was a child, I have been naturally gifted physically so every sports day, or at sports tournaments, I would always shine over my classmates. That’s something that got me a lot of popularity among my friends as well,”

Tiger reveals. After delivering hits with the likes of Sabbir Khan and Ahmed Khan, the actor is appearing in a Karan Johar production for the first time. Does it feel like a personal milestone? “It’s a superb feeling, it’s an amazing production house. Karan and Punit (Malhotra, director) are lovely people and so easy to work with. They are so efficient, it is inspiring to be around them. And I love the visuals they conjure up. Everything is so beautiful, and every frame is so full of colour,” the actor gushes.

But surely, it must be a different feeling to take over a franchise midway? “Well yes, I am an outsider and I feel like I am in alien territory,” he acknowledges, but is quick to add that he was lucky that his director made him fit in easily. “SOTY is Karan sir’s baby franchise and the expectations drove me to work hard. This is not my franchise like Baaghi, which is home ground for me. There is not much pressure to perform there but here I have big shoes to fill as well. The first film launched three stars. I must make sure that I don’t let their fans down,” he says.

While on SOTY 2, Tiger acknowledges that it is a departure from the hi-octane actioners that dominate his portfolio. “This one’s more of a love triangle with sports as the backdrop. There’s competition, dance, masala… It’s not like I am playing superman here, I also get bullied in college,” he reasons, noting that he’s done a “light” film after a long time. What would be a heavy film then, one wonders, and he explains, “It is something that is heavy on action and is very emotional… Or something like that. This (SOTY 2) is a fun film. It has emotions, but nobody is dying or anything.”

He may be kicked about the film but is in no mood to explore other genres. “Right now, I am very happy doing what I am doing, I am happy with my line-up currently,”

he insists. Speaking of upcoming projects, buzz is, the third instalment of Baaghi will have the climax set in a desert. “I don’t know about that. I haven’t had a narration yet,” Tiger says, suddenly short of words again. Mirror had earlier reported (September 20, 2018) that the actor is set to make his Hollywood debut with a Lawrence Kasanoff production. Tiger informs briefly that he is still in talks and hasn’t signed anything yet. And what’s the status on Hrithik v/s Tiger? “I have only one action sequence and a song remaining to do with Hrithik sir. There’s a lot of speculation going on about the story and stuff but none of it is true. Once the teaser is out you will get an idea,” he shares.

It’s the advent of unlikely screen pairings. While Disha Patani is opposite Salman Khan in Bharat, the latter will be seen romancing Alia Bhatt in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Inshallah. Ask Tiger who would be his unlikely co-star of choice, and he picks Madhuri Dixit. An incredulous reaction is met with a quip: “You said unlikely.” And in quite an out-of-character manoeuvre, Tiger uses semantics to get the better of you.

Director Shekhar Kapur on the kind of love he believes in ­ mysterious and indefinable
Deebashree Mohanty (TIMES LIFE; October 29, 2017)

MID-DAY (May 9, 2017)

Shekhar Kapur will co-write and direct Little Dragon, a feature film, about Bruce Lee’s early days, according to news agency reports. The film is backed by Chinese investors and will explore the formative years and adventures of the martial arts legend in 1950s Hong Kong.

Veteran Hollywood casting director Mary Vernieu is currently leading a worldwide search for the actor to play to play Lee’s younger version. The film will be co-scripted and produced by Lee’s daughter, Shannon, who runs Bruce Lee Entertainment, a division of the Bruce Lee Family Company, which is dedicated to promoting and protecting Lee’s legacy and ideas.

“The film will be a contemporary take on Bruce Lee who, aside from being considered the most gifted and famous martial artiste of all time, is now accepted as a major philosopher in his own right,” said Kapur in a statement. “It is important that the audience today relates their own lives to the journey of Bruce Lee, who manages to tap into his inner wisdom and harnesses his true destiny before it’s too late,” he added.

The film will follow a young Lee as he contends with “his family’s disappointment, young love, true friendship, betrayal, racism, deep hardship and the inner fire that threatens to unravel his destiny,” the producers said.

Little Dragon is being planned as an official US-China co-production. “I always thought that a film on how my father’s life was shaped in his early years in Hong Kong would be a worthwhile story to share so we could better understand him as a human being and a warrior,” Shannon said in a statement.

Currently in pre-production, the project will go on floors later this summer in two countries — China and Malaysia.

BOMBAY TIMES (November 29, 2015)

MUMBAI MIRROR (November 26, 2015)

Ram Gopal Varma is gearing up for his next release, and he's dedicated it to some actors, a porn star and a few gangsters as they have "contributed" to his life in one way or the other.

The filmmaker recently took to Twitter to share the news about his autobiography, Guns and Thighs. "I dedicated my book to Ayn Rand, Bruce Lee, Urmila Matoandkar, Amitabh Bachchan, pornstar Tori Black and a few gangsters," updated Varma, to his many followers.

"The dedication to them was in accordance with their tremendous contribution in my life one way or the other," the filmmaker added.

Earlier this month, Varma shared the cover of his book and mentioned that the book has some startling revelations about Varma calling Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan an idiot; his own journey with the underworld and his affairs with women. RGV has previously penned a Telugu book titled Naa Istam.

Hiren Kotwani (BOMBAY TIMES; December 14, 2013)

After Ram Gopal Varma vacated his office in Andheri, speculation was rife that he was shutting shop in Bollywood. Post the debacle of Satya 2, the filmmaker had gone to Hyderabad, where he owns a house. He’s said to be living there with his mother. He is also believed to be making a Telugu film with Mohan Babu and his son Vishnu Manchu.

On his part, RGV maintains that he has been making a Telugu film every once in a while since he’s from the Telugu industry. “As soon as I’m done with this, I’ll be starting a Bruce Lee martial arts movie, with Puja Bhalekar, a martial artiste from Pune,” he said, adding that shooting will commence in February in Mumbai. As for the office, he said, “We vacated it as the lease period expired. We’ve acquired a new office in the same area and its interior work is underway.”