Excerpts from a conversation on Planet Jackie: 

Grahan, your first home production, is releasing soon — are you excited?
More than excited, I’m working round the clock. I don’t even know what’s happening around me. I’ve been working on my other films and at the same time on the post-production of Grahan. I should be sitting with my children, but here I am. But it’s fun. It’s my first film as a producer so I’m gonna try to get it out smooooth!

What was it like being a first-time producer?
Sometimes I was overwhelmed, sometimes excited, sometimes embarassed. I’ve been overwhelmed by Manisha going out of her way to arrive at work at 5 am. So many people are looking after my interests. I’m just a guy who’s walked into production and doesn’t know what the hell is happening. The affection I got from my unit was too much. There were times when I was embarrassed. When I completed the work and suddenly realised I had overshot my budget that day and didn’t have the money to pay people for that evening. That’s when you know who your real friends are. And there were times when I was really excited...when I saw the results of all our hard work. Especially when I saw the songs. Yeah, I’m excited. But at the same time I’m working hard like an automaton.

Being a producer must be more nerveracking than being just an actor.
There’s no tension, it’s mechanical work! Automation, yaar! Subah se jab main uthta hoon to shuroo ho jaata hai, kya kya karna hai din bhar. It’s constant time management. I have to make time for my family, for my films, for my home banner and for television.

Are your actors working at a concession for you?
No, that’s one thing I’ll never ask them to do.

Are you treating Grahan like your baby? Are you emotionally involved with it?
Yeah, I’m emotionally involved. We’ve been working on it for about a year and two months. It’s been our baby. It has our sweat, blood and tears.

The story-line is rather unusual, whose idea was it?
Sujeet Sen. He’s a writer. And Ranjit Kapoor who is the dialogue writer. But the idea was basically Sujeet’s.

Had you planned Grahan to be your first production, or did it just turn out that way?
It just happened. We had this great subject with us and we were going to do the project sooner or later. Shashilal Nair and Mani Iyer were around, so we just got into it, without giving it much thought.

The music by Kartik Raja is said to have a Rahman hangover...
(Amused) Has it? Good for us! (Guffaws) But Kartik and Rahman have both been Ilayaraja's students, haven’t they? So they’ve been working together. They are from the same school of music.

So it’s a plus point?
Yeah, yeah, it’s nice. People have liked the songs as well as the visuals.

Why has Grahan been delayed till mid-December?
I wanted a delay because there are a lot of films coming in. If two pictures are released the entire chain of theatres gets booked up by them. So you have to wait for films to come in, two at a time. If a lot of films are released at the same time, no one gets the theatres they really want. And I want to wait for Metro and Gaiety in Mumbai.

Didn’t almost 50 per cent of Grahan have to be reshot?
Oh no! (Shocked) In fact we are cutting off extra bits of the film! Who is the monster who told you this? Maybe they’re trying to jam my film before I start! See, these are the vibrations some people give off! How can anyone even think and talk like this about someone who’s making a film after 14 years of being in the line? Sabotage. Cheapos! (Laughs dismissively).

But you must be used to this kind of talk, having been in the industry for so long.
Oh, I’m so used to it, after 14 years! That’s the excitement of surviving so long!

You are one of the longest running heroes today...
Yeah, yeah, I’m cool. (Laughs contentedly).

What’s your secret?
Maybe I’m hard hitting, maybe it’s sincerity. I don’t know, maybe it’s just me! I’ve never really thought about it. I’ve never analysed myself. I would probably sit back and analyse myself when I’ve been in the line for ten more years. There are people who’ve been here since Adam’s. I’ve only been here for 14 years. Like Ram’s vanvaas!

Do you think you’ve managed to change with the times?
Yeah, of course, yaar. Not consciously, but subconsciously I started growing. It’s like I was in KG first and then I graduated to college.

How have trends changed over the past 14 years?
Do you think action is going out in favour of comedy and romance?
Never, never, never. Things like that never happen. That’s just the way people think. When a laugh riot runs they say comedy, comedy, comedy. When a love story runs they say romance, romance, romance. When an action film runs, it’s fight, fight, fight. You know what I mean? But in reality you can never say that this is going out and this is coming in. Paagal hai? Sab chalta hai. Kya chalta hai maloom nahin. (Laughs) You never know.

Do you see any change in the trends of film production over 14 years?
For example, is it more or less easy to get finances now...
Producing a film has always been a tough task. Not for the production houses which were established but for the new people who came in. The trend hasn’t changed. The expenses have gone up.

Does your wife help out in your production house?
Sometimes. She’s busy with the kids and her own business. But she helps me a lot if I ask her to look into some matter for me.

Tell us something about your other productions apart from Grahan.
I’m producing a horror film, Aatma, with Mamta and one more heroine. That will probably be the next home production to be released, sometime next year. I’m also making a comedy, a social and a thriller. Shooting has started for all of them. They’re progressing slow and steady. My father always used to remind me of the virtues of going slow and steady by telling me the story of the hare and the tortoise. So I’m going to do it that way. Work on stronger plots, understand the films, give them some time to develop. No more relying on luck. Now filmmaking has suddenly become a serious profession. So I better take things seriously.

What kind of horror film is Aatma? Plenty of blood and gore?
Oh no, it’s about a soul who falls in love. It’s got no masks or blood, but it does have some special effects.

Are all your home productions going to be written with you as the hero in mind?
No. But to start with I thought I would act in most of them because I had the time.

Isn’t Sushmita Sen in one of your films?
Yeah. It’s untitled so far. It’ll be directed by Parto da. But that will come only after Grahan, Aatma and Raju Raja Ram.

When you started Jackie Shroff Entertainment, your partners Prakash Jaju and Avinash Adik were handling finance and production respectively — while you were handling all the departments because the film industry was familiar with you. Are you planning to continue with this arrangement?
Well, I was handling the goodwill — the protocol department — since the people we are working with are my friends. I have to see that they are absolutely comfortable with everything. But I’m not planning to continue this arrangement. I’m planning to change the management. I’ll be getting my finances and chartered accountants from a different sector.

You had gone on a film signing spree sometime ago...
Yeah, I’m still signing films! Right now I have 12 films to be released. And I think I have signed about 12 more. 24 in all.

And how are you managing this amazing task?
It’s simple. I work double shifts, I have no qualms about that. I manage my time in such a way that I accommodate everyone. And all 12 of my films are going to be releasing, from now to April. Danadan lagi hui hain sab. (Amused chuckle) There’s going to be a glut of my films, yaar! It’s going to be quite a festival. (Laughs chirpily) Vishwa Vidhata, Kabhi Na Kabhi, Yug Purush, Grahan...

Your next release is Vishwa Vidhata. What is it about?
It’s inspired by an old black and white German film. It’s about a guy, Sharad Kapoor, who gets involved in a terrorist organisation. In one of their operations a bus-load of school children gets blasted. That’s when Sharad decides to run away. So he goes through a plastic surgery, changes his face, and becomes Jackie Shroff. Jackie comes to the city, falls in love and gets married. And his son grows up to look like Sharad Kapoor, who becomes a cop. When he comes across the blast case he realises that the guy who was involved looked like himself. So I’m playing Sharad Kapoor in disguise!

And it’s the first time you’re playing a father to a hero.
Is this a turning point in your career?
Oh no, it’s not. It’s just one among the many things I’ve done. It’s other people who are making a big deal of the fact that I’m playing a father!

Vishwa Vidhata is your first release after a fairly long gap.
Do you have high expectations of it?
Well, I’ve done a good job. I’m not expecting anything, but I’m not disappointed with it, either. Pooja Batra is great in it, she’s playing Sharad’s girl. Ayesha Jhulka plays my wife.

Have your financial troubles ended?
I’ve signed so many films! (Laughs) I had stopped signing films in between because there was a company which wanted to make films with me over a period of one year. Unfortunately, it didn’t materialise, and then I realised I had to pay a lot of people. So I started signing films. That’s when things became okay. My dhandha is films na, I can’t sell aloo.

Had you planned to keep a low profile in the last few months?
Never. I’ve been low profile all my life. You’ve never seen me stand on the terrace and blow my trumpet. Planning my releases is upto the distributors. I’ve never interfered with that. There are some people who plan their releases... but... I don’t. I wish I had an older brother to guide me...

How involved are you with Sony TV?
We are the promoters in India. We have the job of making and acquiring 1000 hours for Sony Entertainment. We are the producers of the software. Sony is the major partner with 60 per cent, and we are the minor partners, with 40 per cent.

What happened to the software company you were going to
start with Shah Rukh Khan and Anil Kapoor?
Actually, that was to be a film production company. I don’t know what happened to that. It’s a serious idea, but no-one seems to have the time to sit and talk seriously across the table! Maybe I’ll start the company, and if they join in I’ll change the name to JAS, as I was planning earlier.

What’s happening with Subhash Ghai’s Shikhar?
Most probably Subhash Ghai will make it, but it will be different from what was originally planned. I’ll still be in it, of course. He’s my brother. He introduced me to the line with Hero, and I will always look upto him. He does the toughest of scenes with ease. It’s a pleasure working with his unit. When I walk in I feel the warmth of a home production, because I started my career 14 years ago with that unit. And I’ve done five films with them. It’s like going back home.

What is your opinion about the theory that films which are financed by the underworld are violent because of instructions to that effect? Do you think the underworld has been doing that in order to create an atmosphere of fear and violence in society?
Nothing of the sort. No way. There must be a few, yaar, but I still don’t think the underworld would dictate that there should be violence in films. Aise thodi hota hai? I doubt it, I doubt it.

Then do you have some other theory about why there has been such a rise
in violence in movies since the ’80s?
What? Where? Violence has been present in movies since the beginning of cinema. Have you seen Tom and Jerry? It’s even more violent. Do you know what it does to my children’s heads? There is no violence worse than that on cartoon networks. Jerry mows Tom’s back with a lawnmower! A huge thing falls on him and he’s flat on the ground like a pizza! He gets chopped in 1000 pieces! I see my son growing violent day by day, and then I realise that he’s watching Tom And Jerry! It’s the most dangerous thing to watch. I love the serial, but in comparison to that violence, we are bachoos. We don’t mow the skin off somebody’s back with a lawn mower!

The growth of real violence all over the world is psyching people’s heads. In Hindi films at least you see good win over evil. Don’t suppress the entertainment industry. It’s good over evil. It’s poor and rich. It’s mother, father, Hum Aapke Hain Koun. It’s Dilwale Dulhaniya... and two youngsters in love. It’s Rangeela, a fairytale.

Don’t you think people get some sort of sadistic pleasure out of seeing violence in Hindi movies, even though good wins over evil in the end?
Every morning you get up and read about some massacre in the news. You see it on TV all the time. And you grow immune to it. So you cannot blame the audience. And there is a basic violent nature in a human being. If you see a mosquito you hit it — TAK! (He whacks his knee and laughs) You can’t help it, it’s there in every human being. (Sings) Film ko mat badnam karo, dekho deewano, tum yeh kaam na karo!

Do you think Gopinath Munde’s accusation is justified when he blames the younger generation of stars for going to Dubai to do shows for shady folk?
I like the fact that he’s going to recognise the industry. If he’s asking that question about the ’youngsters’, it’s okay. It’s his job to look after the little babies. To protect them. They’re actors. They’re not hoods. So whose job is it to look after them like big brother and see what their needs are? The industry, which has been holding its own for so long, without the support of the government, needs to be recognised and nursed. Do you know how many people will be on the roads if the entertainment industry collapses? A group of 20 actors and 20 actresses, this small industry, is entertaining the whole nation! It is something which should be looked after. Not hacked to pieces at every given opportunity.

Why do you think people attack the industry?
Because no one realises what the industry is all about. No one has tried to understand its problems in any real sense. They don’t even realise that the industry gives people a dream. Entertainment walon ko to bahut sambhal ke rakhna chahiye. Yeh tumhara kohinoor hai. It is India’s kohinoor. All over the world Indians and Asians love an actor. They want to touch, they want to talk to him. And some people are maligning that, trying to upset a good system! It’s wrong. The good points are always lost and the bad points highlighted.

Can an actor really say ‘no’ to an offer or invitation from an influential person in Dubai?
Maybe, maybe. Maybe here, maybe there. Actors are not Gods that they can say “nothing will happen to me”.

Do you feel threatened yourself?
No. If I have done something wrong maybe I would. But I think it’s easy to live and let live. I think I have been a bloke who has gone more than out of his way for people.

What was it like being Jaggu dada in Teen Batti?
Freedom... sometimes... free... haha (Singing). Total freedom. It was bliss. I was totally carefree, relaxed, no responsibilities. Nothing to be responsible about. No work. Mom was supporting me and my needs. I was totally at ease. I had no idea there was anything like the grind of work.

What did you do to become the dada of the area?
It was something that was passed on to me. My brother was protector of the area. He was always there for people who were in trouble. When he died I was ten. But as I grew up in that rough area people started looking up to me. Girls started coming to me to tie raakhi. If there was any trouble I was there. I never thought of myself. I thought of others. I would fight for their rights.

Did that involve violence?
Well, I’ve been beaten up badly. And I’ve beaten others badly.

Are you still in touch with that area?
I still go there. I still cry when I sit there alone in the night. It’s beautiful.

Do you know the dada there now?
(Laughs) Everyone is a dada now. Har gali mein ek dada hai. But I think the real dads are the police. Even in our time the police were a strong presence. But in our time we were into fist fights, yaar! We were never into guns and bombs and choppers and all that.

Do they all own guns now?
I don’t know...

From a neighbourhood dada how did you go on to become the hero of the masses?
My father who was an astrologer, predicted that my field was mass media. I thought that meant hotels, I thought it could be the airlines. I applied as flight purser but didn’t get a call. Then I applied as chef. That didn’t work out. Then I got Swami Dada, Hero, and the rest, as they say is history.

Was it an astrologer who told you that you need to be with your children all the time? I
s that why you used to travel back home to be with your kids every day,
even from location shoots?
No, that was my heart-felt desire. I was travelling so much, and I wanted to see my children grow. So I used to come home everyday. I wanted to be with my children when they were young. I still do that if I’m in Delhi or Madras or Bangalore where the flights are regular. I’m a homebird, basically.