Playing an intense role exhausts Jackie Shroff at times, but the Bollywood veteran says that is the fun of living life as an actor.
The actor plays Mustafa Bhai, a prisoner in Hotstar’s web show ‘Criminal Justice’, which is a remake of the eponymous British drama.
“Intense roles take a toll on me emotionally. It is exhilarating at times for any performer because what you see on-screen is a series of emotions in our performance in a sequence. But in a film, we do not shoot them like that,” said Shroff.
“The difference between a stage performer and ours is that on stage, you are in one flow with the character. But when we shoot a film, we are not shooting all the scenes in the sequence we watch it in. So much back and forth happens and we have to mould ourselves to those emotional graphs. I, therefore, try to control my breathing, try to take control of my body, so that I can emote, project and perform,” said Shroff.
‘Criminal Justice’ is helmed by Tigmanshu Dhulia and Vishal Furia and produced by BBC India and Applause Entertainment. It is a part of Hotstar specials.
Shroff, who has been working in the film industry since 1982, earned popularity with films like ‘Gardish’, ‘Khalnayak’, ‘1942: A Love Story’ and ‘Rangeela’ among many others.
He still remains rooted to reality — to his childhood life in the Teen Batti Chawl.
“I think I know both extremes of life. I know how does it feel to live in a chawl where rats bit my fingers and my mother was trying to protect me when I was a baby, 10 people were using one toilet and stood in a queue, to the present time where I have three toilets for one person,” said Shroff.
“As an actor, knowing every aspect of reality only makes me relatable to the audience when I perform,” the father of Bollywood heartthrob Tiger Shroff said.
Which is his favourite film of his career?
“Choosing one is so tough — whether it is ‘Devdas’, ‘Mission Kashmir’ or ‘Gardish’. I loved them all because every film has some memory. But I want to say that I did a film called ‘King Uncle’, the core thought of that story, adopting a girl child touched my heart. So I did that. I don’t know if people liked it but at that time back in 1993 I thought it is futuristic.
“As a kid, I wanted to be a pilot and that is why ‘Border’ is a special film because I played a Wing Commander. And of course, ‘Criminal Justice’ is special for me,” he said.
