By Jagmohan Singh Barhok
‘मेरे प्यार में, मेरे इंतजार में
सच सच कहो तुमने क्या किया
कभी भूला कभी याद किया
कभी भूला कभी याद किया’
Jackie Shroff, the subject of this write up, was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth. His parents were financially not well off to even arrange for his school fee . He was denied everything other children enjoyed and possessed. His childhood memories were reminiscent of misery and hardships. He finally left studies after passing 10th and started doing odd jobs here and there but success eluded him every time until one fine evening an employee of an advertising agency spotted him.
He introduced the youth to his master .A photo shoot was arranged to promote him as a model. It was in this background that the lad got in touch with Dev Anand who introduced him in his film “Swami Dada” featuring Mithun, Padmini Kolhapure, Naseeruddin Shah & Christine O’Neilin 1982. A ray of hope was now in sight.
Subhash Ghai noticed the bright spark in the young and energetic youth to cast him in his romantic film “Hero” (1983) as the leading man opposite Meenakshi Seshadhri a former Miss India 1981.The film’s success added floodgates of offers for the young actor making him a celebrity overnight from a nonentity. K. C. Bokadia’s “Teri Meharbaniyaan” 1985 further strengthened his stake as a hero. The key player in the film was a dog named Brownie whose acumen and exploits attracted children, teenagers and cine goers into theatres. It was another successful film. Ghai ventured to cast him in “Karma”, with an ensemble star cast that included Dilip Kumar, Nutan, Naseeruddin Shah, Jackie Shroff, Anil Kapoor, Poonam Dhillon, Sridevi, Dara Singh and Anupam Kher. It was Dilip’s first film with Nutan and proved a bonanza for the maker .Jackie Shroff’s career graph had shot-up sky high.
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Ghai also included him in “Ram Lakhan” a crime-drama with an ensemble starcast including Anil Kapoor, Jackie Shroff, Madhuri Dixit, Dimple Kapadia, Raakhee, Amrish Puri, Paresh Rawal and Anupam Kher. The film repeated the hat-trick winning extraordinary laurels. Ram Lakhan was the second highest-grossing Bollywood film of 1989 and the second highest-grossing Indian film of the 1980s.Two songs of the film ‘My Name Is Lakhan’ and ‘Tera Naam Liya’ became popular. The film received 9 nominations. Rakhi won Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award and Kher won Best Performance Award in a Comic Role.
The article would be lacklustre if we did not mention Vidhu Chopra’s ” Parinda”, story of two brothers who worked for a gangster Anna played by Nana Patekar who .later received National Award for Best Supporting actor. It also won Best Editing Award. Earlier the film had won five Filmfare Awards out of six nominations.
“Agnisakshi”, directed by Partho Ghosh & produced by Binda Thackeray was a #nail biting film with Nana Patekar holding the key. The film’s cast include Jackie and Manish Koirala. In “Kabhi Bhoola Kabhi Yaad Kiya” number from film (Sapne sajan Ke) Jackie and Dimple danced merrily to their hearts delight. The song was reminiscent of the scintillating number picturized on Shah Rukh Khan & Divya Bharti “Aisi Deewangi Dekhi Nahi Kabhie” in “Deewana”( 1992).
Gulshan Rai,s “Tridev”,” Khalnayak”, “100 Days”, “1942: A Love Story”, “Rangeela”, “Border”, “Saudagar”, “Mission Kashmir” are some other worth mentioning films of the actor.
I was present with Narinder Singh Walia, partner Paramount Films, Jalandhar during the special trial of “Lakshmanrekha” arranged for us by the producer Satyendra Pal at Sumeet, Juhu past midnight. We had returned from Mughal restaurant, Juhu after dinner. The film starring Jackie Shroff ,Sangeeta Bijlani ,Shilpa Shirodkar & Shammi Kapoor was well directed but was sans masala required to catch the fancy of the audience. I had earlier met the actor during the making of “Sahibaan” in an event & later during the shooting of T. P. Aggarwal’s “Return of Jewel Thief”.
